O'Brien, Carl
(2012)
Dramatic devices and philosophical content in Plato’s Symposium.
Archai: revista de estudos sobre as origens do pensamento ocidental (Archai), 9.
pp. 73-84.
ISSN 1984-249X
Abstract
Plato’s Symposium uses dramatical devices,
such as the framing story, the arrangement of the speeches
or the lesson with Diotima, as a means of guiding the
reader to the underlying philosophical message, which includes
an examination of the system of Socratic education.
Socrates’ acolytes display a commendable enthusiasm for
philosophy, but seem incapable of distinguishing between
love of Socrates and love of wisdom. Agathon occupies a
central position: due to punning on his name, the trek to
dinner at his house symbolises the ascent to the Good, and
he represents sophistic and poetic education, just as all of
the other speakers represent a particular kind of expertise,
meaning that Eryximachus should not simply be dismissed
as a pedant or Aristophanes’ speech regarded as a comic
interlude. Rather, they form part of a complex intertextual
web. Alcibiades displays the shortcomings of a man unable
or unwilling to complete the Socratic course of study; his
demand to be taken to Agathon symbolises his inability
to find his way to the Good, while the interruption of the
revellers into the orderly arrangement of the symposium
evokes the attitude of tyrannical men and those hostile
towards philosophy. Despite this criticism of some of Socrates’
students, the Symposium closes on a positive note.
Socrates’ final actions in the dialogue are other-centred;
an implied critique of those who claim that philosophy
undermines social ties.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Symposium; Socrates; education; Good; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Arts & Humanities > Ancient Classics |
| Item ID: |
17706 |
| Depositing User: |
Carl O'Brien
|
| Date Deposited: |
17 Oct 2023 13:08 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Archai: revista de estudos sobre as origens do pensamento ocidental (Archai) |
| Publisher: |
Universidade de Brasília [University Publisher] |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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