Love and Truth in Plato's Symposium: Socrates Analyzed

Introduction: Love as a Topic in Ancient Athens

The Symposium is one of the most critically analyzed pieces of ancient literature, because it expresses in a fascinating format the lifestyle of the Athenian elite as well as the intellectual maturity of the philosopher Socrates. While studying the nature of love may seem a discussion of low importance to modern philosophers, an emotional reaction as powerful as love has always been a remarkable aspect of human life. In addition, at the time of the Symposium, Greek mythology had largely avoided the topic of emotional love in favor of violence, war, and lust. Therefore, love was not only a subject that could be shared within a room of men — it was actually a rather progressive topic understood in ways quite different from the modern concept of love.

To better understand the lessons of the Symposium, one must study the nature of love as presented by its two most prominent speakers, and come to a determination as to why Socrates' opinion was considered superior enough to bring an end to the debate.

The subject of love in the ancient world is an interesting one, because generally marriage and procreation were about power and property, not love. Love is a relational property because love does not have any properties of its own. Rather, it connects someone who desires something with the thing they desire. Thus, Love is neither wise, rich, nor beautiful, nor any of the other things we might ascribe to an object of desire. Rather, Love is the desire that finds itself in the absence of all these praiseworthy qualities. Presenting Love as a relation clarifies its position and identifies the flaws in the earlier speeches. Yet in treating this relation as a thing with a nature and properties of its own, Plato edges toward philosophically dangerous ground.

Agathon's Vision of Eros

Agathon's speech on love, and on the god of love, Eros, is generally well received by the audience, who enjoy the passion he brings to the subject. Agathon believes that "Eros is the best of the gods, young and good looking, with supreme strength and ultimately bearing good intentions for mankind" (Symposium, 193) — an important distinction in a mythology filled with anti-human deities and capricious supreme beings. This view directly opposes Phaedrus' claim that Eros is old.

Agathon continues by describing how Eros does not simply interact with humans' physical forms, but also with their emotions and feelings, proving just how powerful and unique a god Eros is. Eros also exerted a positive effect on the gods of Mount Olympus, who governed the world with less rage and chaos because of the influence Eros had brought to them.

Socrates' Critique of Agathon

Socrates' complaint with Agathon's conception of love sweeps the Symposium's prior speeches and philosophies aside — due in part to Plato's favoritism toward his teacher, and in part to Socrates' immense ability to whittle away at non-truths in the pursuit of logic. Socrates seeks the cause for why something is as it is, rather than simply offering a list of poorly reasoned guesses as the other guests had done. He begins his critique by noting that no form of logical argument can be made to support the claims of any of the participants. The elaborate, flowery stories woven so exquisitely had only served to hide the truth of the subject beneath a weight of expectation.

Socrates focuses specifically on Agathon's claim that Eros does not seek out what he requires, but rather spreads joy and happiness without restraint. Socrates sees a flaw in this logic: if Love only wishes to spread love, then is the act of Eros spreading love not itself a selfish gesture? When one desires above all else to love, that desire becomes a necessity — thus proving that Eros is a god acting out of his own wishes and desires, and therefore not the selfless being Agathon had described.

Conclusion: The Socratic Method and the Pursuit of Truth

In conclusion, Socrates employs a style of rhetoric designed not to arrive at conclusions, but rather to question pre-existing notions in order to strip subjects to their bare essentials. In this way, Socrates was able to determine truth without being constrained by the cultural and intellectual limitations present in Athenian society. Plato's respect for Socrates is evident throughout the Symposium, and the arguments put forth by Socrates are far better reasoned than those of his peers.

Greek mythology is effortlessly woven into the framework of the Symposium, and we can see how the gods were used to illuminate the difficult problems of the day. It is notable that the gods largely avoided the idea of love, as the people of Athens had little need for such a concept beyond the story of Eros — particularly in a society still striving to advance politically and militarily. The era of Socrates and Plato represents the pinnacle of ancient Greek culture, and the Symposium is an excellent example of why the Socratic method still endures today as one of the most effective processes for pursuing objective truth.

Works Cited

Plato. Apology. Public Domain. Print.

Plato, and K. J. Dover. Symposium. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1980. Print.