Nov. 11th - What is love? (The speech of Aristophanes in Plato's Symposium)

What assumptions does Aristophanes account of love suggest?

Everyone has another half, and only one person can fully complete you (only one TRUE other half)

Aristophanes account of love suggests that there is a "wound of human nature (built-in to human nature); this implies what?

Humans are by nature social, such that we find solitary existence incomplete and lacking

The story of the original androgynous people suggests what about love?

That love "completes" us and that becoming complete through love is necessarily physical (though not only physical)

Your romantic life is the search for what?

Your other half

What is philia?

friendly love

According to Aristophanes' view of love, you start life _______ (whole/half a whole)

half a whole

What is love according to Aristophanes?

love is becoming complete through physical intimacy and bonding with another

What is eros?

sexual/romantic love

What is agape?

the love of God/Jesus for man and of man for God/Jesus; unconditional love

Does Aristophanes believe love is just "friendship & sex"?

No - he believes the physical element of a sexual relationship can radically alter the dynamic of a friendship, such that "lovers" are far more than just "friends who have sex"

Can relationships with your dog, friends, parents, self, and physical things be the truest form of love according to Aristophanes?

No - requires a physical aspect