Abstract

Plato's Symposium is a discourse praising Eros. Its speakers attempt to bear witness to the god of love and to speak of his nature and deeds. Who is this god and what is his nature?---this question guides the theme of the dissertation. Does the Symposium succeed in answering this question---the question it poses to itself at the beginning of its enterprise---this is the challenge that accompanies the dissertation's attempt to read through the praises of Eros. ;In addition to the Symposium other Platonic dialogues that discuss the notion of Eros are examined: The Charmides, the Philebus, Alcibiades I, the Lysis, the Phaedrus, and the Theaetetus. ;All the dialogues, as well as the Symposium, are examined by way of a discourse with other thinkers who address some of the concerns that Plato associates with Eros: Jacques Derrida's notions of testimony and writing serve to contextualize the Symposium; Friedrich Nietzsche's accusation that Plato has neglected the instincts and the body provides the theme by which the Charmides is investigated; Sigmund Freud's notions of consciousness, the unconscious, and the life and death drives are used to explore the Philebus; Martin Heidegger's notion of Cura---that which places humans in an anxious state of being-toward-death and fromward-birth---is adopted as the means by which Alcibiades I is studied; Emmanuel Levinas' notion of friendship provide the basis for considering the Lysis; Jacques Lacan's notions of lack and desire, sight and speech, and transference present the opportunity to investigate the Phaedrus; and Luce Irigaray's claim that Plato appropriates the feminine so as to produce a desire for philosophy and a love of wisdom contributes to the study of the Theaetetus