Transgressing Boundaries: A Discussion Concerning Methodology, Ἔρως, and Politics in Symposium and Platonic Philosophy by Peter Haskett A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2017, Peter Haskett Haskett 2 Abstract This thesis does three things in three distinct sections. First, this thesis is a discussion and critique of method. I attempt to address pivotal issues that permeate throughout the Platonic scholarship, problems of method and the problem of authorial intent. Following discussion of the methodological problems that hinder the Platonic scholarship, I propose an overlooked methodological model and psychology that is skeptical, flexible, and pragmatic: eclecticism. Second, I apply the method and demonstrate its strength while investigating the concept of ἔρως (eros) in the first six speeches in Plato’s Symposium. Third, I discuss my findings. From my exegesis, I engage in phenomenology of eros and reflect on its metaphysical underpinnings. I argue that eros is by nature fundamentally self-negating and thus absurd. I then discuss the importance of renewed and further reflection on the nature of eros and its role as an engine for philosophy and political life. Haskett 3 Acknowledgments I would especially like to thank Professor Tom Darby, my supervisor, for his help and guidance in completing this thesis and for his continuing encouragement over the last few years. I am grateful for his patience and care, and especially grateful for turning me around whenever I might wander down trails best left untrodden, though he would let me first satisfy my curiosity. Thanks are also due to Professors Waller Newell, Marc Hanvelt, and Marc Nyvlt. I thank Prof. Newell’s for his great scholarship and pedagogy, both of which stimulated my initial interest in the concept of eros and encouraged serious reflection on the question of moderation. I thank Prof. Hanvelt for encouraging me to reflect seriously on questions of method and the foundations of philosophy, and for his willingness to answer any question I might have, no matter how inane or poorly formed my questions might be. I thank Prof. Nyvlt for his kindness and willingness to be a reader and examiner for this project, providing critical feedback. I owe much to the philosophy department of my alma mater, St. Francis Xavier University, particularly to Professors Louis Groarke and William Sweet. Prof. Groarke has been an excellent friend, mentor, and brother, always encouraging to fight onward even if the obstacles seem insurmountable. Prof. Sweet is an exemplar of scholarship and philosophic questioning, and I will always see him in many ways as a role model. To both Professors, I am especially grateful for their help with my entrance to the MA Philosophy program at Dominican University College. I would not have completed this thesis without the help and support of my friends, especially Brandan Tran, Lt. Tim Gallant, and Dr. Paul Groarke. A special thanks to Brandan Tran for his editorship. I must also acknowledge the advice, feedback, and camaraderie of Ryan McKinnell, Jay Conte, Jon Wensveen, Caleb Chaplin, Joshua Johnson, Spencer Davis, Rob Varma, Marc Alain, Marcus Charlesworth, and Ben Woodfinden, all of whom helped shape this project in some way. Finally, eternal thanks to my family for their constant support, especially my mother and father, Helen Marie and Donald, my aunt Colette, and my grandmother, Carmel. χρυσὸν οἱ διζήμενοι γῆν πολλὴν ὀρύσσουσι καὶ εὑρισκουσιν ὀλίγου. Ἡράκλειτος Haskett 5 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ 5 Chapter 1: Methodology ................................................................................................................. 6 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 6 1.2 A Problem ............................................................................................................................. 7 1.3 The Seventh Letter .............................................................................................................. 11 1.4 The Dialogues as a Medium ................................................................................................ 13 1.5 Knowing Another as You Know Yourself .......................................................................... 15 1.6 How Do We Read Plato, and Why? .................................................................................... 17 1.7 Hermeneutics, Exegesis, and Eisegesis ............................................................................... 18 1.8 Review ................................................................................................................................. 27 1.9 Eclecticism .......................................................................................................................... 29 1.10 Methodological Considerations......................................................................................... 33 1.11 The Texts ........................................................................................................................... 35 Chapter 2: Five Lovers, Five Speeches......................................................................................... 37 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 37 2.2 The Groundwork of Eros..................................................................................................... 38 2.3 A Memory of a Memory ..................................................................................................... 42 2.4 Phaedrus: An Honest or Fickle Lover? ............................................................................... 43 2.5 Pausanias’ Erotic Conventions ............................................................................................ 53 2.6 Eryximachus and the ‘Science’ of Love ............................................................................. 57 2.7 Aristophanes’ Teaching and the Lovers’ Riddle ................................................................. 61 2.8 Agathon’s Eros: A Lovely Narcissist .................................................................................. 78 Chapter 3: The Wily Hunter and the Mystagogue from Mantinea ............................................... 85 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 85 3.2 A Basis for Socrates ............................................................................................................ 86 3.3 The Image of a Wily Hunter ............................................................................................... 90 3.4 Socrates ↔ Eros ↔ Hermes ↔ Socrates ↔ Eros ............................................................... 97 3.5 Function of Diotima’s Teaching ....................................................................................... 102 3.6 Eros and the Human Things .............................................................................................. 103 3.7 The Lower Mysteries ........................................................................................................ 106 3.8 Higher Mysteries ............................................................................................................... 112 3.9 Reflections on Diotiman Eros ........................................................................................... 114 Chapter 4: Final Remarks on Eros, Not the Final Words ........................................................... 123 4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 123 4.2 Phenomenology of Eros .................................................................................................... 123 4.3 The Absurdity of Love: Eros as Self-Negating ................................................................. 127 4.4 The Problem of Erotico-Relativism and Further Considerations ...................................... 130 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 135 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................ 137 Haskett 6 Chapter 1: Methodology 1.1 Introduction This thesis has three distinct sections where I do three distinct things. The first section is a discussion and critique of method. Generally, the first section considers the difficulties that face methods and approaches to Plato’s dialogues and his philosophy. In turn, I propose a method of my own. In terms of specifics, in the first section I attempt to articulate and address a pivotal issue that permeates throughout the Platonic scholarship. This