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Today we continued our reading of Plato's Symposium by considering Pausanius' speech. I realize that we are going through this in some more detail than perhaps is usual. I think it is important to be very clear on the text, since it foreshadows almost all of our subsequent discussions. Indeed, I submit that this is the most important text, by a long measure, of the semester in terms of grasping different philosophical conceptions of love and sex.
Like Phaedrus', Pausanius' speech raises several important issues:
- Pausanius (a lawyer, remember) postulates that there is a higher love, the “heavenly Aphrodite”, and a lower love, “the earthly or common Aphrodite”, and describes the characteristics of those loves.
- Pausanius observes that social control usually focuses on the control of sexual behavior and explains the reasons why this would be so. To be sure, there is some evidence that Pausanius' observation is as true today as it was in Ancient Greece.
- Pausanius argues that "it is base to indulge the vicious lover viciously, but noble to gratify the virtuous lover virtuously", although what that means is open to interpretation.
- Pausanius explains the great value of the Heavenly Aphrodite in terms of inspiring lovers to teach and learn virtues.
We briefly considered parallels to today's sexual politics in Pausanius' second observation, points we will later embellish when we take up issues in sexual morality. Suffice it to say for now that the lumping together of romantic love, sport, and philosophy for social control is prescient, to say the least, given current events.
Consider however Pausanius' declaration that,
It is base to indulge the vicious lover viciously, but noble to gratify the virtuous lover virtuously.
Or, more simply, consider a simpler translation:
Don't take from the taker; rather give to the giver.
If what we mean by indulging the vicious lover viciously is for one person only interested in their own self-gratification to be used by another person also only interested in their own self-gratification, then perhaps we can say that it would be better to gratify the virtuous lover virtuously. Presumably, the virtuous lover sets the desires of his beloved above, or at least on par with, his own. Yet it should also be clear that worst of all would be the virtuous lover gratifying the vicious lover. That is, where expectations differ we can expect disaster, even if we don't hold the misled virtuous lover blameworthy for it.
Is it so bad, then, for the vicious lovers to indulge each other viciously? Or for virtuous lovers from time to time to indulge one another viciously? It seems that what matters is that everyone play by the same rules, whatever those rules may be.
What I am suggesting here is that reading a work like the Symposium is to be invited to a feast of ideas, where ones own ideas and reflections on the arguments and positions being developed is as much part of the feast as what the speakers in the text have to offer. Perhaps this is why Plato has had such lasting influence. He invites us to join in the discussions and make them our own.
We paused briefly to discuss what Eryximachus makes of Pausanius' distinction between Earthly or Common Aphrodite and Heavenly Aphrodite in terms of ill and good health, noting how his approach might be recast today in terms of the distinction between unhealthy relationships and healthy relationships. Notice how Eryximachus' healthy vs. unhealthy further amplifies Pausanius' point that of the two kinds of love, one is much to be preferred over the other in light of the behaviors they engender. Thus we arrive at the idea that lower love can, though not necessarily, lead us to behave in unhealthy ways; while higher love can, though not necessarily, lead us to behave in healthy ways.
We should always ask, as we did several times today, whether the views on love being put forward are plausible or simplistic. Perhaps we can add to the point that indulging the vicious lover viciously is scarcely the worst thing we can do--it being more important that, whatever we do, we all agree that that is what we are doing--a word of caution for Eryximachus. Having sex responsibly and as safely as possible is important for both the unhealthy relationships Eryximachus cautions us against and the healthy relationships he encourages. Moreover, doing so has the effect of making the unhealthy relationship remarkably less unhealthy, defending it against his scorn.
By the way, I must say I was most impressed by the discussion today. Readings have been close, insights were raised, criticisms posed, and throughout it was manifest that this is an engaged class. Discovery through discussion with engaged, sceptical, and thoughtful minds reminds me why I went to academia in the first place, however inhospitable is becoming to such discovery.
Next time we take up Aristophanes' marvelous speech and, hopefully, get through Agathon and Socrates' speeches as well.