Symposium - Socrates Speech Analysis
One of the ways to think philosophically about love is to reflect on the issues raised in Socrates' speech on the topic. Socrates discusses love by arguing with Agathon about the qualities of love. He further recalls an account given to him by a woman called Diotima. Socrates concluded that love is not a god because it needs something and it lacks godly attributes.
Socrates points out from his discussion with Diotima that love is not a god as it desires something such as beauty and wisdom. Love cannot be described as beautiful or wise but is a desire for beauty and wisdom. The qualities that are desired by love are inherently present with the gods. The gods have the attributes of beauty and wisdom and thus do not desire them. No one would deny that God is beautiful and wise. Additionally, the gods are already perfect and do not lack any of the qualities of beauty of wisdom. Love is imperfect; it needs good and beautiful things and is thus not a god.
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Socrates also differentiates the qualities of love, such as wisdom and beauty, from love itself. Agathon’s speech had identified love in different ways. It was described as wise, beautiful, the object of desire, and young. Socrates went on to dispute the claim by suggesting that these qualities are not about love but rather the objects of love’s desire. Love can be described as the desire for beauty and wisdom, but love in itself is not beautiful or wise. Additionally, beauty and perfection are the qualities of things that people love, but the lover may not possess these characteristics. The differentiation of the objects of love from love itself shows that love does not have the godly attributes of beauty and wisdom. Such differentiation can thus be used to reinforce the point that love does not qualify as a god.
In conclusion, Socrates' speech points out that love is not a god. Love needs and desires beauty and wisdom which are attributes inherently present in God. Love is also imperfect as it lacks in most perfected godly qualities. Socrates further refutes Agathon’s definition of love as being beautiful and wise by stating that these are the objects of love and not love itself.
