Plato Concept Of Love

The concept of love is a very ambiguous, controversial, idea that is nearly impossible to come to a singular consensus on. In this essay I will be describing and comparing two philosophical views on the concepts and ideas behind love. Through the works of Todd May and Plato, different approaches to the concept of love will be illustrated as well as determining the similarities and differences between the two perspectives.

As Todd May focuses on the intensity involved with the idea of romantic love, over the idea of sex and love, he insists that the most intimate relationships were the more intense due to the constant engagement you have with an individual ( ****) - the two of you that the relationship consists of create a private world

Within Symposium, Plato portrayed Love not as an idealization, but rather on the judgment that was made from Love’s control of the human body (lecture). One speech in particular, the one told by Aristophanes, presents an interest and mythical view on the concept of love. The love he describes is a dedication to the idea of soulmate love (lecture). Spherical people were being that were completely round, “they had four hands each, as many legs as hands, and two faces, exactly alike, on a rounded neck. Between the two faces, which were on opposite sides, was one head with four ears (Plato 25).” As these beings has more limbs and eyes than any god, they were considered too powerful which led to the god Zeus, splitting them in half. Once split, the beings began to die as they starved and became idle as they could not live without their other half (Plato 26-27). Aristophanes concluded that as their separation from one another was the cause to their deaths it was no less than a demonstration for the desire humans have to love one another, as stated on page 27, “This, then, is the source of our desire to love each other … heal the wound of human nature.” The perspective Aristophanes presents is about a fusion between one object - or individual, and the object of desire; love is about momentary intimacy both physical and emotional. Aristophanes presents the desire of the momentary intimacy that the human body craves in his speech by saying “ The purpose was this so that … they could stop embracing, return to their jobs, and look after their other needs in life (Plato 27).” This particular quote is important because it represents Aristophanes’ overall view that, human beings desire one another, they need one another; however, one they obtain their object of desire they are free to continue on with the rest of life’s