Abstract

My aim in this study is to unfold the profound relationship thatnonetheless exists between the world of Rosenzweig and that of Plato. Plato’s presence in The Star of Redemption is greater than onemight think by relying solely on the references found in the index. Inaccordance with this suggested relationship, one might propose areligious interpretation of that youthful pronouncement made byRosenzweig, to which, indeed, the expression of „faith“ is appropri-ate: „Ich glaube an Πλάτων [Plato]“. Notwithstanding the need to undertake a broad overview of Platoand several of his earlier as well as later dialogues in the presentcontext, I wish to focus my attention here upon the Symposium andthe discussion therein of love and Eros. This study will make a verysimple claim: Rosenzweig’s attitude towards love and Eros as a reve-latory event was shaped specifically in relation to the manner inwhich Eros is discussed in Plato’s Symposium In order to discoverthe importance of the Symposium for the Star, one must examine allthree parts of The Star together, as a process creating a certain stancetowards love and Eros. Plato’s influence is likewise present in Ro-senzweig’s attitude towards Jewish sources and midrashic literature.Succinctly stated, the process put forward in the Symposium movesfrom a previous tragedy to a shared discourse on love, leading to thelove of wisdom – i. e., philosophy – and from there back to concrete Love Discourse: Rosenzweig vs. Plato life. The move proposed by the Star is from the tragic hero whoconfronts death (part I of the Star ), to the revelation of love (part II),and thenceforth to fellowship and the shared meal (part III). Theplace occupied by „wisdom“ in the Symposium is taken by „truth“ in the Star, but both leave the door wide open, at the end of the day (orthe end of the night), back into life.