One of the things we'll talk about in class today is how each of the first five speeches in the Symposium offer a view of love that is grounded in the point of view of the speaker. The various encomia to eros are actually praises of self-love.
Generally, Socrates' speech is regarded as a philosophical corrective to the first five, though on the issue of self-love, his presentation of Diotima's speech is not really all that different. He too defines love from his own perspective and wow, love looks a lot like a philosopher, (a sophist too).
I ran across the following quote by Ayn Rand this morning, "Love is an expression and assertion of self-esteem, a response to one's own values in the person of another."
End of Semester Life Report
4 months ago
