The ‘Symposium’ is a book written by Plato. The book’s main point of argument is love. It takes place at a dinner party that had been organi z ed in honor of Agathon at his house. While at dinner, the participants take up a challenge to speak about love. Among the participants were Socrates, Pausanias, and Phaedrus. The book gives a broad understanding of love. It defines love, explains its importance to human life, and elaborates on how it can be expressed.
Plato talks about different opinions that the participants have about love. For instance, Phaedrus, who was the first to speak, believed that love is a god who most promoted human virtue. Pausanias believed that love had two distinctions; common love and heavenly love. To him, common love was a simple desire, while heavenly love involved the exchange of love for wisdom or virtue. Common love can be said to be such as filial love, while agape love describes heavenly love.
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Socrates’ speech is the most notable of them all. He clearly explains the subject, touching on all aspects of love. He believed that love was not a god but rather an intermediary spirit between human beings and their objects. Socrates' idea of love, not being a god, is based on the fact that love needs something. Furthermore, since the gods are already perfect, love does not qualify as a god. He talks about love and not the qualities that it exhibits, as what Agathon had done. He believed that qualities such as wise and beautiful were objects of love and not love itself. According to Socrates, love is expressed through pregnancy and reproduction. It could be in the form of sex, producing children, virtue, and philosophy, which includes sharing ideas. He believed that virtue and philosophy are superior to sex.
References
Bury, R. G. (Ed.). (1909). The symposium of Plato . W. Heffer.
