Feb
17
The legacy of Plato is so much more than the legacy of a philosopher. While inexperience with his texts might suggest otherwise, a close reading of Plato’s dialogues reveals a masterful art by which they are constructed. These texts are not just philosophical dialogues; they are components of a skillfully constructed ideological framework. Each work then becomes a lens for understanding the others, a method of deepening one’s understanding of the framework’s contour. In this way, the analysis of love in the Symposium can be applied to the discussion of the Divided Line as found in the Republic. It shows how the philosopher, by his own birth in beauty and in mentoring a willing young boy, provides the guidance and encouragement which the youth needs to overcome the labor pains of love and assure his own birth in beauty.
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