Erotic Wisdom : Philosophy and Intermediacy in Plato's Symposium

by Scott, Gary Alan; Welton, William A.

• ISBN13: 9780791475836
• ISBN10: 0791475832
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-11-13
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

"Erotic Wisdom provides a careful reading of one of Plato's most beloved dialogues, the Symposium, which explores the nature and scope of human desire (eros). Gary Alan Scott and William A. Welton engage all of the dialogue's major themes, devoting special attention to illuminating Plato's conception of philosophy. In the Symposium, Plato situates philosophy in an intermediate (metaxu) position - between need and resource, ignorance and knowledge - showing how the very lack of what one desires can become a guiding form of contact with the objects of human desire. The authors examine the concept of intermediacy in relation both to Platonic metaphysics and to Plato's moral psychology, arguing that philosophy, for Plato, is properly understood as a kind of "being in-between," as the love of wisdom (philosophia) rather than the possession of it."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Introductory Dialogue (172a-178a)	p. 27
Six Speeches on Love (Eros)	p. 45
The Entrance and Speech of Alcibiades (212c-222c)	p. 155
Conclusion	p. 181
Intermediacy, Philosophy, and Recollection	p. 201
Notes	p. 227
Works Cited	p. 271
Index	p. 277
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