While Socrates’ peers in the
Symposium are unable to give a correct definition of love, Phaedrus, Pausanias,
Eryximachus, Aristophanes, Agathon, and Alcibiades all define something else –
what the ideal person should be like, through their constant praise of
Socrates. These men praise Socrates for his wisdom, and consistent deeds, and
through them, Plato shows what people should strive to be wise and consistent.
Socrates’
wisdom is exemplified to the men when he gives his definition of love. When
Socrates gives his speech concerning Diotima, he is “finished with a loud applause” 212D. The
level of excitement is one not reached previously by any of the other speakers. He captures their attention because he offers
an argument that they cannot refute, and have come to agree with. Socrates
shows that he is the only one in the group capable of contradicting others
arguments, while keeping their agreement. This speech, and the men’s approval
show how people should strive to be wise.
During his
speech, Alcibiades praises Socrates not only for being brave in battle, and
saving his life, but he marvels at how Socrates “started thinking about some
problem or other” while the other men were resting from their war efforts. We
see Socrates do this near the beginning of Symposium, as he stands under
Agathon’s neighbor’s porch, in deep thought. The idea that Socrates is can act
the same way whether at a dinner party or at war, shows that he is a very solid
character. More examples of this are found in Alcibiades’ speech when he
mentions many times, how even though many have seen Socrates drink; no one had
ever seen him drunk.
The
comments about praise of Socrates referring to Socrates’ wisdom and
consistency, demonstrate that Socrates
is Plato’s ideal character.
Anker, I also thought that it was interesting to see how much respect Socrates held in the eyes of all of his friends. I found myself quite impressed with Socrates- with his wisdom and consistency. I think one of the things about Socrates that made me respect him too though was how humble he is. I greatly respect the fact that he prefaces his speech with this claim of ignorance. He doesn't talk as though he knows all either. Socrates is very careful to form his argument through dialogue with others. By building his argument on what others say, it reinforces this idea that he is ignorant and is simply mining information out of the person he is talking to. This seems to also impress his friends and at the end of each inquiry he is often met with a profession of ignorance from others such as Agathon's: "I didn't know what I was talking about in that speech" (43). Socrates being able to take someone's argument and turn it on its head while remaining humble helps him to win the respect and love of his friends.
ReplyDeleteI would also agree that the respect Socrates commands is very impressive; furthermore that there is no evidence contrary to this is very interesting. I think this respect is rooted in Socrates wisdom and in part to the dialect method he employs in his arguments. But I think it is worth noting that this is in the presence of friends and his speech is well received because they have that very respect for him. In this sense it is easy for Plato, to as Anker describes, interpret the aspirational character. But in an unfamiliar social group i doubt that his sarcastic attitude or rather his dialect method would be well received. His whole execution trial may or may not attest to that. I think the humbleness is a by product of his respect for knowledge and less a character trait.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous statments that Socrates is humble, but I do not think that his claims of ignorance are a representation of this. The plea of ignorance, as Morgan has pointed out, has more to do with Socrates attempt to establish a dialogue through which he can prove his understanding.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anker and his points about Socrates' wisdom and consistency. In Alcibiades' speech, he begins to describe Socrates as god-like and says "Nobody, not even you, Socrates, can deny that you look like them. But the resemblance goes beyond appearance..." (215B). According to Alcibiades, the wisdom that Socrates has can be seen as god-like, where Socrates is able to gain the respect from his peers. I agree with Marlee in that Socrates begins to obtain this great wisdom by first admitting he has ignorance and being a humble being, and by having ignorance, Socrates can finally truly understand the ideas being observed. Socrates represents himself in his arguments that he is humble because of his ignorance about the topic, and then he reveals through his argument in the dialogues created by him that everyone is finds some humility in that they are ignorant too on the topic. Socrates consistently represents this throughout the text, which reveals himself as a consistent and even as a very wise character. Socrates tells Alcibiades that "the mind's sight becomes sharp only when the body's eyes go past their-prime-and you are still good long time away from that" (219A). In his speech, Alcibiades mentions this part and reveals that Socrates mentions that he is ignorant of the love he desires from him. Like Socrates, he must get away from physical and mortal things to find wisdom of these ideas. The praise as Anker mentions comes from his peers observing his consistency in ways to obtaining his wisdom.
ReplyDelete