Intoxicated by Truth: Plato's Symposium with Alex Priou
Apr 3, 2025
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In this engaging conversation, philosopher Alex Priou delves into Plato's Symposium, revealing how Socrates captivates despite his unconventional appearance. They discuss the intoxicating nature of authentic love versus the pitfalls of desire, emphasizing philosophy's role as a 'cold shower' for temptation. Priou highlights the dynamic relationships among key figures like Aristophanes and Alcibiades, exploring love's complexities. The chat also touches on the evolving landscape of academia, urging scholars to blend depth with accessibility in their writing.
Plato's Symposium illustrates that authentic love, akin to the pursuit of truth, can evoke similar intoxicating experiences and risk-taking.
Socrates' disruptive intellectual inquiries at social gatherings reveal a complex interplay between truth-seeking and the discomfort of social conventions.
The symposium emphasizes love as a personal and universal experience, highlighting the balance between individual connections and the pursuit of higher ideals.
Deep dives
The Nature of Love and Intoxication
Love is viewed as a profound desire connected to the truth of its object, where the pursuit of truth may evoke similar intoxicating experiences as love itself. This intoxicating pursuit, deeply echoed in philosophical thought, aligns with Plato's idea that true love propels one towards the profound and impactful, even if it entails risks. Socrates demonstrates that this passion for truth can lead to a captivating charm, making one both admired and respected, despite a lack of conventional attractiveness. This dichotomy serves to illustrate that the depth of love, akin to robust philosophical inquiry, often outweighs superficial qualities.
Socrates and Dinner Party Dynamics
Socrates' unconventional behavior at dinner parties, marked by both charisma and disarray, challenges typical social expectations. While the dinner party’s host, Agathon, represents grace and charm necessary for social harmony, Socrates disrupts the flow with his candid philosophical inquiries and intellectual humility. His ability to provoke thought and stir discomfort, even as he risks social faux pas, is a testament to his brilliance, which ultimately draws people in. This paradoxical nature of Socrates raises intriguing questions about the intersection of intellectual rigor and social interaction, illustrating how truth-seeking can both charm and unsettle conversational dynamics.
Praise for Eros: A Departure from Tradition
In the symposium, the decision to praise Eros stands out, as it diverges from the prevailing poetic focus on the pitfalls of love. The speakers' collective endeavor to extol love in a structured, pre-determined context contrasts with contemporary dinner party conversations, where individualistic opinions often dominate. This unique approach emphasizes not only the beauty of love but also the social dynamics at play when engaging with common themes. It raises essential questions about the nature of love, encouraging a deeper contemplation of how both philosophical discussions and personal interactions can convey profound truths about human experience.
Authenticity in Love and Philosophy
The symposium underscores love as a deeply personal experience intertwined with one's identity, blending individual pasts with universal truths. Philosophical reflections reveal that genuine love is both particular and transcendent, demanding a balance between personal attachment and a desire for higher ideals. This tension between specific connections and overarching ideals points to a nuanced understanding of how love influences one's sense of identity and purpose. The dialogue suggests that appreciating both the beauty of personal relationships and the pursuit of the universal good is essential for a fulfilling life.
The Evolving Landscape of Academic Discourse
Current academic discourse is shifting dramatically, influenced by the challenges of engaging with a broader audience beyond traditional scholarly circles. The conversation highlights how the motivations behind publishing are evolving, with less emphasis on dense academic texts and more on appealing narratives that resonate with contemporary readers. This transition invites scholars to embrace playful, accessible styles while still engaging deeply with philosophical ideas. The potential for vibrant public discourse asserts that effective communication of complex thoughts can enliven engagement with classical texts, making them relevant for both academics and the general populace.
Socrates shows up late, looks like hell, and still somehow rules the room. What's really going in the Symposium? Plato uses a dinner party to show how authentic love is more intoxicating than alcohol. We explore the relationship between erotic desire and philosophy, and how philosophy is often a cold shower on our lesser temptations.
We examine why talented poets like Aristophanes might be the fiercest skeptics of love, Alcalbiades’ dramatic interruption, and how Socrates’ uncompromising pursuit of truth brings admiration as well as danger. Perhaps the only desire strong enough to guide us well is the love of the good, no matter the cost.
Alex Priou is a philosopher who works on Plato and Pre-Socratic thought. Alex is the author of three books on Plato: *Becoming Socrates: Political Philosophy in Plato’s Parmenides* (2018), *Defending Socrates: Political Philosophy Before the Tribunal of Science* (2023), and—the pretext for this converstaion—[*Musings on Plato’s Symposium*](https://amzn.to/43BtkEv) (2023). He also co-hosts [*The New Thinkery*](http://www.thenewthinkery.com), a political philosophy podcast. Learn more about Alex's work at [alexpriou.com](http://www.alexpriou.com).
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