Abstract

This paper examines the interpretation of erôs in Plato’s Symposium developed by Vasilis Politis in his paper, “The Volatility of Erôs.” The paper first argues that some of the central claims made by Politis are untenable. It then suggests that there is, nevertheless, an important distinction that Politis points to between the way in which erôs is directed specifically at beauty and the way in which desires for the good are directed specifically at goodness. An attempt is made to put this distinction on a new footing incorporating some recent work on Plato’s moral psychology.