The Third Step
"Ladder of Love"
"Next he must grasp that the beauties of the body are as nothing to the beauties of the soul, so that wherever he meets with spiritual loveliness, even in the husk of an unlovely body, he will find it beautiful enough to fall in love with and to cherish--and beautiful enough to quicken in his heart a longing for such discourse as tends toward the building of a noble nature."
- The next part of someone that you notice after their physical appearance, is the beauty of their mind.
- Sharing thoughts with someone, especially with someone who's thoughts coincide with yours, leads to greater love of the person.
- Now have you not only shared bodies, but you've shared thoughts, which allows for a deeper understanding and deeper seeds of passion for a particular individual.
- "It is not just the beauty of the mind, but the beauty of how the mind perceives the world and the universe around it." ( Brayton, Plato and the Ladder of Love)
The Second Step
- "Next he must consider how nearly related the beauty of any one body is to the beauty of any other, when he will see that if he is to devote himself to loveliness of form it will be absurd to deny that the beauty of each and every body is the same. Having reached this point, he must set himself to be the lover of every lovely body, and bring his passion for the one into due proportion by deeming it of little or of no importance."
- All bodies are close to the same so if you love one you should love the others.
- Opening the mind to see every body as beautiful.
- Starting to share love.
- The love of bodies in general, not one particular body.
In this passage, Diotima discusses with Socrates the importance of love and beauty, and how as humans grow and develop their idea of love and beauty changes.
Love's Ladder is also referred to as Diotima's Ladder
The First Step of Love
- "...he will fall in love with the beauty of one individual body, so that his passion may give life to noble discourse."
- The first part of love is a narrow view of the physical body.
- What most humans are initially attracted to.
- Thing that initiates falling in love.
About The Symposium
- one of the foundational documents of Western Culture
- Arguably one of the most profound texts in philosophical history that analyzes and celebrates love.
- symposium is a "drinking together" or a drinking party, where philosphical topics are discussed and ceremonial toasts and bouts of driking often insued.
- The Symposium is often viewed as both a Drama and a Debate.
Step Four and Five
"And from this he will be led to contemplate the beauty of laws and institutions. And when he discovers how nearly every kind of beauty is akin to every other he will conclude that the beauty of the body is not, after all, of so great moment. And next, his attention should be diverted from institutions to the sciences, so that he may know the beauty of every kind of knowledge."
Is sharing unconditional love with someone required for the good life?
Are all the steps leading to the understanding of beauty and love neccessary? Which ones are more important?
Can you lead a good life half seeing the beauty and half loving during your life?
The Sixth and Final Step
- The knowledge and beauty of laws and institutions leads directly to the desire for the knowledge and love of everything there is to know.
- Plato states that you must hone your desire for knowledge to a specific feild because there is too much to know everything, and that is the beauty of it.
- Sharing the wealth of knowledge with someone will also deepen your understanding of their mind.
"Whoever has been initiated so far in the mysteries of Love and has viewed all these aspects of the beautiful in due succession, is at last drawing near the final revelation. ... It is an everlasting loveliness which neither comes nor goes, which neither flowers nor fades, for such beauty is the same on every hand, the same then as now, here as there, this way as that way, the same to every worshiper as it is to every other."
Background
- The final step talks about the beauty of love unconditionally.
- Sharing all the knowledge, and mind, and thoughts, and body combined leads to an unconditional love for the other and for everything.
- Allows to see the beauty in everything.
About Plato
"And if, my dear Socrates, Diotima went on, man's life is ever worth the living, it is when he has attained this vision of the very soul of beauty. And once you have seen it, you will never be seduced again by the charm of gold, of dress, of comely boys, or lads just ripening to manhood; you will care nothing for the beauties that used to take your breath away and kindle such a longing in you, and many others like you, Socrates, to be always at the side of the beloved and feasting your eyes upon him, so that you would be content, if it were possible, to deny yourself the grosser necessities of meat and drink, so long as you were with him."
- born around the year 428 BCE in Athens.
- Met Socrates and became his devoted desciple, learning from him and adopting his philosophies.
- Socrates' execution in 399 BCE had huge toll on Plato and he left Attica & Athenian Politics and went on a 12 year journey. This is when he begins his writing.
- In 387 BCE he returned to Athens and built the Academy.
- This is when he wrote Symposium.
Plato's Ladder of Love
Works Cited
- Brayton, DuWayne. "Traumatized By Truth: Plato and the Ladder of Love." Traumatized By Truth: Plato and the Ladder of Love. N.p., 30 Sept. 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
- "Plato - Biography." European Graduate School: Graduate and Undergraduate Studies. European Graduate Schol, 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
- Plato, and C. J. Rowe. "210a-212b." Symposium: Plato. Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1998. N. pag. Print.
- "Plato's Symposium." Plato's Symposium. DePaul University, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Sydney Zaruba