Plato's Symposium

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Turia Pitt, a woman from Australia suffered burns over her face and body, her beauty was gone; however, her fiancé Michael Hoskins did not leave her because he fell in love with her inner beauty. (Sinha) Michael found the true meaning of love and although her physical beauty was gone, he stayed by her side because of her personality. In Symposium by Plato which is a work of different speeches from men on their interpretation of eros- love. Plato uses a conversation between Socrates and Diotima to explain the concept of beauty. Diotima was a coach to Socrates in his understanding of what the true meaning of love. Through, their conversation Plato stressed that when physical beauty fads all that is left is inner beauty. Plato’s analog is still …show more content…

A person who is unselfish is willing to put others above themselves without wanting anything in return. This type of beauty, I witness first hand as my aunt gave up twenty years of her life to care for my grandparents. She took care of my grandparents with little to no help from her sisters or caregivers. The care she provided my grandparents was back-breaking, and she spend many sleeplessness nights making sure my grandmother was breathing or not up wandering the halls. To my grandparents, she was their dietitian, physical therapist, nurse, cook and housekeeper. Although, she is now in her sixties and some of her outward beauty has faded, and her circles under her eyes are dark, she is the most beautiful woman to me because she gave of herself benevolently to her parents without any reward. She exemplifies what is means to truly be …show more content…

Outward beauty in America is not a standard for a country in African or Tonga where access to media sources are limited. American values slim women with light skin, straight hair and European features as beautiful, whereas some other countries find a woman is beautiful if she has wide hips and a darker complexion. However, America’s requirements are slowly spreading across the world because of media. Women now are bleaching their skin, obtaining plastic surgery to be skinner and look more European. But the change of an outward appearance does not correlate to a person’s inner beauty. Yes, some people are only fixated on a person’s outward appearance, but looks do not last forever, and outward beauty is not

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