{"id":71565,"date":"2022-07-09T10:04:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-09T14:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=71565"},"modified":"2022-07-18T11:03:03","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T15:03:03","slug":"diotima-symposium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/diotima-symposium\/","title":{"rendered":"Plato’s Symposium: Diotima’s Speech on Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What does Diotima say about love in Plato’s Symposium<\/em>? How does her concept of love relate to beauty? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Plato’s Symposium<\/em>, Diotima’s speech centers on the human experience of love rather than its purpose or benefits. She concludes that the main object of love is not beauty.\u00a0Rather, it’s goodness. However, she argues that beauty is integral to a good life and introduces the concept of the “ascent”\u2014a process of learning to appreciate beauty in all its forms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we’ll explore Diotima\u2019s views on love by explaining what humans love, why humans love, and how humans should love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What We Love<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Plato’s Symposium<\/em>, Diotima explores love and how it relates to beauty. She suggests that, instead of beauty, the main object of human love is goodness. This is because goodness brings people happiness\u2014a meaningful life well-lived. By definition, a good<\/em> life is a happy<\/em> life.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, Diotima concludes that humans desire immortality: If people have good things, they desire to continue having them. Therefore, people want to permanently<\/em> have good things. The longer someone lives, the longer they can have good things, so by desiring goodness people desire immortality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: To understand what Plato means by happiness, it helps to consider the original Greek word: eudaimonia. Eudaimonia is usually translated to \u201chappiness,\u201d though it doesn\u2019t entirely match our modern definition. While we usually think of happiness as a temporary positive emotion, eudaimonia refers to an overall state of living life excellently<\/a>. The stabler, longer-lasting state of eudaimonia also explains why Diotima says people want permanent good\u2014she\u2019s saying people want to always live excellently, not that they want to always experience pure joy or bliss.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why We Love<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Diotima suggests that the purpose of love is reproduction, either in a physical sense (creating a child) or a mental sense (creating virtue and wisdom). <\/strong>Creating physical or mental offspring is the closest a human can get to becoming immortal (and therefore permanently having good things). An individual\u2019s offspring will live much longer than they do\u2014physical children will carry on parts of their ancestors, and great works of art, ideas, or virtuous acts are often remembered long after the death of their creators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diotima emphasizes in particular the importance of mental children\u2014a great work or great deed lives far longer than any physical child, and therefore brings its parent closer to immortality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: It seems like Plato contradicts his other dialogues here by saying we reproduce because we desire immortality. In several of his other works (including the Meno<\/em><\/a> and Phaedo<\/em><\/a>), Plato argues that people have immortal souls (his idea of the soul is similar to the mind or the self) that are reborn into many different bodies. This raises the question: If our souls are immortal, then why is reproduction the closest we can get to immortality? Some scholars argue that this is<\/em> an inconsistency where Plato temporarily appeals to a more pragmatic, skeptical viewpoint<\/a>. Others suggest that in the Symposium<\/em>, Plato talks about individual<\/em> immortality\u2014immortality of one person rather than of their soul<\/a> (which over time inhabits many<\/em> people).)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love as Reproduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Diotima, everyone is pregnant in some way\u2014every individual has the potential to create physical or mental offspring. However, people can only give birth in the presence of beauty<\/strong>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a physical sense, beauty excites people to seek out suitable sexual partners and makes them happy and relaxed enough to engage in sex (or, later on, childbirth). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: You might wonder why Diotima suggests that males and females can become physically pregnant. Scholars suggest that Plato refers to ejaculation as the male form of pregnancy and childbirth<\/a>: An aroused male is pregnant and gives birth upon ejaculating. This conception of male childbirth further cements the connection Plato\u2019s trying to make between beauty and childbirth\u2014beauty inspires sexual arousal which allows a male to \u201cgive birth\u201d and ejaculate during intercourse.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a mental sense, a beautiful body or beautiful mind inspires new ideas. Particularly, Diotima suggests that a beloved with a beautiful mind and body can inspire a lover to birth excellent intellectual offspring. These intellectual children are speeches on virtue or wisdom that make up the educational component of a pederastic relationship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Plato seems to have two competing ideas on intellectual offspring in a pederastic relationship. He mentions one just above: A beautiful beloved inspires their lover to birth intellectual offspring. However, Plato\u2019s Theaetetus<\/em><\/a> suggests that Socrates acts as a \u201cmidwife of the soul\u201d\u2014just as a normal midwife helps deliver physical offspring, Socrates helps deliver mental offspring. This metaphor suggests that the lover (Socrates) actually inspires the beloved<\/em> to birth intellectual offspring. Scholars suggest that this contradiction might result from Plato\u2019s personality and ambiguous feelings on homosexual desire<\/a>\u2014the Symposium<\/em>\u2019s view seems to celebrate these desires, while the Theaetetus<\/em> takes a more restrained approach.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How We Should Love<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since people only give birth in the presence of beauty, it follows that beauty is crucial for a good life\u2014even if it isn\u2019t the main<\/em> goal of love. Diotima then explains how to pursue beauty and birth offspring in a way that leads to the happiest life possible. <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ascent<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Diotima explains that the best way to pursue beauty requires a journey of self-realization that she calls the \u201cascent\u201d: A process of learning to love<\/a> beautiful things that are more and more good and meaningful. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n