Plato’s conception of “beauty” and his “theory of art” in the book Plato’s Symposium not only gives the reader some insights into the theory of art when Diotima discusses forms of beauty, but it focuses on diverse perspectives of beauty. The book has both philosophical and literary merit, unlike Plato’s previous works which examine the theory of forms with a lesser force than the symposium. In this book, the reader is taken through Plato’s rejection of romanticized sexual love because of his value for wisdom and beauty(Strauss 118). According to Plato in the symposium, the most valuable philosophical pursuit is the search for wisdom and that is why he values philosophy more than other art like comedy which is typified by Aristophanes, and tragedy which is exemplified by Socrates.
The author plans his dialogue in this text that epitomizes the social life in Athens to highlight the fact that philosophy is close to daily life activities. Philosophy expresses the highest levels of the love and desires that drive the daily activities of a human being. The beauty of life lies in philosophy because it helps people to see things clearly and to appreciate the various art forms that nature has bestowed upon us. He suggests that our attraction to beautiful things and all forms of captivating arts including music and films are driven by a philosophy that provides an overt direction to what people desire.
One of the speakers in this text is called Diotima and she asserts that love is the pursuance of beauty in a gradual incline from specific to general. This gradual exposition helps people to understand all types of beauty. She asserts that even the most ignorant soul is attracted to beauty at a certain level and most people don’t realize that what makes a person beautiful is what other people perceive to be an idea of a higher form of beauty. This means that people are usually attracted to the beauty in a person and not the person themselves. However; if our love is focused, we will be satisfied by beautiful people and also seek beauty in more generalized forms like in well-ordered political systems, social and economic structures. Higher levels of beauty work in more generalized forms and according to the author of this text, grasping all forms of beauty helps people to grasp the basic reality. This reality concept holds that personal experience is a shadowy world, far removed from the ideal and permanent forms of art found in the world. This theory of art is also present in Plato’s earlier works including Phaedo and The Republic and the conclusion that can be made from all these readings is that the easiest way of understanding art forms is through the love of beauty.
The Platonic dialogue in The Symposium epitomizes the progression that Diotima describes as pursuance of beauty in highly refined and generalized forms and each speech in the symposium takes the reader closer to the comprehension of the real nature of love. One of the interlocutors in this platonic dialogue called Phaedrus describes a simple zeal for the value of love while the second interlocutor called Pausanias makes a clever distinction between good and bad forms of love. Eryximachus, the third interlocutor in this dialogue goes out of the way to encompass other fields of inquiry while Aristophanes focuses on the urgency of love. Agathon uses refined art of rhetoric to describe love while Socrates downplays the assertions made by all these interlocutors. It is important to note that most of these interlocutors represent various art forms including comedy and tragedy but Socrates trumps these art forms in this dialogue to assert the fact that philosophy is more important to the well-being of a person than all the other artistic disciplines.
The Symposium test that was originally written in Greek has some direct puns that increase our understanding of the connection between love, desire, and philosophy but unfortunately, translation of these puns water down their effects (Hunter 89). Eros is a Greek word used in this dialogue to mean love and is the basis of the word erotic that describes sexual desire and Socrates is therefore coyly explaining how Diotima taught everything that is erotic in the life and this coyness is enhanced when the reader discovers that Diotima of Mantinea was a legendary prostitute in Athenian tales. This implies that Socrates was seeking sexual favors from Diotima but instead of granting him his sexual desires, Diotima teaches him about beauty and wisdom and this further reinforces that the search for wisdom refines a soul. This makes Diotima be the model of beauty in this platonic dialogue and this is the beauty that every lover seeks. The Symposium is full of high levels of explicit homoerotic content but this does not mean that the characters are homo or bisexual because the Athenian society did not consider sexual preferences as defining traits of a person. The series of speeches that praise the concept of love and beauty mirror Diotima’s explanation of some mysterious circumstances where she claims that truth reveals itself in a careful ascent and this is reinforced by Socratic speeches in this platonic dialogue. These speeches create a staggered approach towards the truth and in The Symposium; it is evident that Socrates loves wisdom and beauty though he does not have both wisdom and beauty. That is why he represents love in the book which is described by Diotima as the spirit that mediates between men and the gods (Dolby 44). Plato in The Symposium asserts that love looks for happiness, beauty, and wisdom, just like Socrates and this means that all those who follow him will fulfill their lifelong desires because they will pursue wisdom. Acquisition of wisdom is typified by Diotima and not Socrates who argues that love encompasses all forms of desires though most people restrict it to the desire that exists between two people.
While Plato appreciates the role of various art forms that create beauty in society, he emphasizes that these art forms may not be as important as philosophical ideals such as wisdom. He, therefore, asserts that pursuance of wisdom is vital in human life because the acquisition of wisdom will by default help human beings to enjoy all the beauty in the world created by the various forms of art including comedy, tragedy, and medicine. According to Plato, pursuance of the beauty of art in the absence of wisdom is an exercise in futility because wisdom enables people to decipher the philosophical ideas behind the beauty of art. Simply put, Plato makes a relevant point that the beauty of life lies in philosophy because it helps people to see things clearly and to appreciate the various art forms that nature has bestowed upon the people of this world. Plato suggests that people are drawn to everything that is beautiful and all captivating forms including music and films are driven by a philosophy that provides an overt direction towards what people desire. Plato emphatically points out that more beauty exists in more generalized forms and grasping the general forms of beauty helps people to grasp the fundamental reality that personal experience is a shadowy world that is far removed from the ideal and permanent forms of art found in the world. The symposium has the same levels of artistic and philosophical meat, unlike his previous works that were plain philosophical and had no place for the art and beauty of this world. The artistic force of the symposium is enhanced by the close examination of the theory of art and the lively, entertaining dialogues between the different interlocutors who are sharp and witty. The symposium is therefore the most liberal and the most though-provoking work that Plato has ever written.
Though the book ends up upholding philosophy over the arts, its attitude towards the theory of the arts and beauty makes the book a very terrific read. The beauty of the book is enhanced by mysterious myths given by Aristophanes and the drunken antics exhibited by Alcibiades which are very entertaining. The book also gives insights into elements of sexual attraction and courtship in ancient Greece, which are presented in a clear manner that focuses on their dynamism.
Works Cited
Dolby, Andrew. Rediscovering Homer. London: Norton, 2006.
Hunter, Richard. Plato’s Symposium. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Strauss, Leo. Plato’s Symposium. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001.