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Reading Quiz Questions
Recall per the syllabus that I will select one of these questions for a short (5 minute) one-page reading quiz at the start of class today. Each reading quiz is only worth at most 25 points. I take the best 20 of them, which means half your semester grade derives from these quizzes. I expect we will have a total of 25-30 of these reading quizzes. If you miss a few or don't do well on a few, it won't hurt you. Just don't make it a habit, because I have seen grades severely injured by dint of neglecting these reading quizzes.
- What are the characteristics of Common (Earthly) Aphrodite, as Pausanius describes them?
- What are the characteristics of Heavenly Aphrodite, as Pausanius describes them?
- Why do tyrannies tend to have draconian sexual laws, according to Pausanius?
- How does Eryximachus (the physician) interpret Pausanius' distinction between Heavenly and Common Aphrodite?
Synopsis
Aristophanes paints a remarkably different, and remarkably beautiful, picture of love by providing a now famous mythology for its origin.
There is much to consider in Aristophanes' proposal that love is our striving to find reunion with the one from whom we were split by the gods. This is of course the modern notion of having a soul-mate: it is altogether commonplace in the thought that we are meant to be with those we love and who love us. Whether there are one, several, or many such people is beside the point. Rather, we come close to echoing the aristophanean point in ascribing a kind of deliberateness or intentionality to love in the sense that we tend to see it as a force in our lives that acts to some degree without our consent or even knowledge. Consider these common expressions:
- I fell in love.
- She was love-struck.
- They were meant to be together.
- It was love at first sight.
- He was unmanned by her beauty.
My point is that these are all things that happen to us, not things that we do.
On reflection, perhaps the point to be made about all this is that our desire for romantic love is so deep and so profound in our lives that we cannot help but see it as outside of us, as a force that move us without our compliance, complicity, or even cognizance--something divine, as it were.
We are, in short, puppets to our deepest desires.
On the flip side, it can be argued that we are indeed active participants in choosing with whom we, paradoxically, fall in love. Arranged marriage might be an example of this, since studies show that arranged marriages are at least as successful as chosen marriages, if not more so. Those in arranged marriages report that they came over time to love the other person as they made a life together, and this love is reportedly no less profound than discovered love.
Maybe what we should say, then, is that soul mates are not found but made, only it is not we who make them.
Now, before pressing ahead with the synopsis, I should like to pause to talk a bit about the readings and the reading quizzes. It is true that we are not reading a textbook this semester. Textbook authors try the best they can to present material as clearly as possible. In this sense, reading a textbook is relatively easy. Content is endlessly summarized, bulleted, re-phrased, re-framed, and exemplified. Textbooks are safe and comforting. They can be memorized and regurgitated. The answers--better, 'answers'--are always there.
We, however, are striking out into territory that may be both unfamiliar and daunting for those only used to textbooks. We are reading original philosophy, or at least as close to the original philosophy as we can get via translation. The point of our discussions, these synopses, and any notes and handouts I provide is to do the best we can to understand the arguments, theories, and positions being articulated by these philosophers. This is no small chore.
Here, then, are some strategies I've seen students use successfully:
- Read each text once before and once again after class; additional readings may be necessary as we move on through the various subjects. Reading philosophy is not like reading history, say. Philosophy must be read slowly, carefully, and thoughtfully. You cannot think of yourself as a passive observer as when you galloped through Harry Potter. You must be actively engaged with the text. It's an altogether different mindset.
- Always recognize, no matter how closely you've read, that there is more you've not grasped or understood. For example, perhaps I am unfairly uncharitable in my reading of Eryximachus, as he does indeed recommend heavenly Aphrodite, it seems, as a curative. There is, in short, depths to this material which may take a lifetime to sound.
- Take notes on your readings, and keep the reading questions in front of you as you read; as you come to relevant material in the texts, sketch out answers to the questions.
- Get a small group of students (say 4 or 5 at most) together to meet for an hour or two each week to discuss the readings and the class meetings.
- Attend class (!) and take careful notes during class of our discussions; don't be afraid during class to ask for clarification or raise puzzles you don't feel have been adequately answered.
- Further, have no fear to challenge my presentation of the material or to challenge the arguments as I present them--it is in these challenges and responses that philosophy makes progress and we all gain a better understanding. If you sense something amiss or think me astray, do not sit on your hands and keep it to yourself.
- Ask me, either by email, or visit during my office (FC-280) hours (TR 11:00 - 12:30 and F 12:00 - 2:00, and by email appointment).
Whatever you do, please don't feel that you are alone in struggling. Make no mistake: Philosophy is hard. Everyone struggles with it. Recognize that the questions we are asking are by no means nor in any sense trivial. They bear careful thought and close scrutiny.
Turning from Aristophanes and briefly discussing Agathon's speech and Socrates' response to it in his dialogue with Agathon, we next turned to describing the broader platonic project which grounds Socrates' discussion of romantic love, which we will revisit next time.
We're a bit behind, but for very good reasons. The quality of our discussions of these texts is vastly more important than the speed with which we get through them. I am, in short, happy to adjust our schedule if need be.