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PLATO’S BOND OF LOVE: ERÔS AS PARTICIPATION IN BEAUTY Lauren Patricia Wenden Ware Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy 2014 ABSTRACT In his dialogues, Plato presents different ways in which to understand the relation between Forms and particulars. In the Symposium, we are presented with yet another, hitherto unidentified Form-particular relation: the relation is Love (Erôs), which binds together Form and particular in a generative manner, fulfilling all the metaphysical requirements of the individual’s qualification by participation. Love in relation to the beautiful motivates human action to desire for knowledge of the Form, resulting in the lover actively cultivating and bringing into being new beauty in the world, and in herself. Chapters 1 and 2 of this thesis offer a survey of the arguments and examples Plato puts forward in the text of the corpus regarding the nature of Forms and the nature of participation, alongside a framework of the traditional interpretations of these two Platonic concepts in the literature. Chapter 3 turns to a close examination of Erôs in the Symposium, arguing that the love Plato presents in this dialogue is of a different sort than appetitive emotion. It is an aesthetic and intellectual attraction, capable of stimulating cognitive achievement. Erôs, however, does not stop there. The lover is led not only to contemplation of beauty, but to the generation of beauty, which is the subject of Chapter 4. The emotive-turn-to-cognitive relation of Erôs, I argue, is the clearest picture Plato paints of how possession of properties can be explained through participation in Forms. Erôs leads the lover to produce beauty in the world and in the soul, which explains how love in relation to the beautiful can lead to becoming beautiful. The object of love is the generation of beauty, the mortal mechanism of participation in the Form by which the lover herself becomes beautiful. Finally, Chapter 5 focusses on beauty itself and its role in moral education. Beauty, for Plato, is required for creative generation and can be understood as a uniquely powerful virtue of soul. DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis has been composed by me (the candidate); and that the work of which it is a record is entirely my own, except where otherwise indicated by means of quotation, reference, and acknowledgement. The work has not been accepted in any previous application for any other degree or professional qualification. Signed: Date: 8th April, 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INTRODUCTION . 1 I. Aims and methodology of the thesis 6 II. Orientation to the subject 8 III. Orientation to the thesis 12 III.a. Statement of terminology 12 III.b. Limitations 15 IV. Overview of chapters 17 CHAPTER 1: THE NATURE OF FORMS . 19 I. Meno 20 II. Phaedo 21 II.a. Deadly asceticism (65c-67a) 22 II.b. The argument from recollection (72e-78b) 23 II.c. The affinity argument (78b-84b) 26 II.d. The argument from the Form of life (95a-107b) 27 III. Republic 30 III.a. 449a-480a 31 III.b. 484a-511e 33 III.c. 514a-541b 39 IV. Cratylus 41 V. Phaedrus 42 VI. Parmenides 43 VII. Theaetetus 44 VIII. Timaeus 45 IX. Philebus 46 X. Symposium 47 CHAPTER 2: THE NATURE OF PARTICIPATION . 53 I. Review of participation in the Platonic corpus 54 I.a. Phaedo 54 I.b. Parmenides 56 I.c. Phaedrus 57 I.d. Timaeus 57 I.e. Republic 58 I.f. Sophist 59 I.g. Protagoras 60 I.h. Laws 61 II. Review of participation in the literature 61 II.a. Original to copy 64 II.b. Contagion agent to phenomenon 66 II.c. Source to similar image 68 II.d. Binding causal power 69 CHAPTER 3: ERÔS IN THE SYMPOSIUM . 71 I. The truth about Erôs 72 I.a. Diotima and the origin of Love 72 I.b. The ladder of love 78 I.c. Who loves whom? 82 I.c.1. Philosopher loves the Form of beauty, beauty begets 83 I.c.2. Philosopher loves a beautiful particular, begets in the mind of the beloved 86 I.c.3. Philosopher loves a beautiful beloved, begets virtue in herself 92 I.c.4. Philosopher inspired by beauty, begets virtue in the world and in the soul 93 II. Erôs is distinctly cognitive 95 III. Objects and aims of Erôs 102 III.a. Love is not of beauty, but of bringing to birth in beauty 102 III.b. No shifting goalposts: Socrates presents a consistent object of Erôs 104 III.c. Objects of love compared to objects of knowledge 108 IV. In defence of love 111 IV.a. Possessive lovers 111 IV.b. Possession does not entail the exclusivist’s reading 114 V. Chapter conclusion 128 CHAPTER 4: PARTICIPATION IN THE SYMPOSIUM . 130 I. Knowledge leads to generation 132 I.a. The explanatory power of an erotic education 132 I.b. Education grounds generative activity 136 II. Generation: Becoming beautiful by creating beauty 141 II.a. What is generated mirrors its cause 142 II.b. The beauty of virtue 147 III. Participation by generation 150 III.a. Love is a bond, uniting mortal and divine 150 III.b. Love is a bond, uniting different ontological types 154 III.c. The bond of love unites the two through generation 156 IV. Objections 160 V. Mortal immortality is achieved through indissolubility 163 V.a. The rival theories: External immortalities 163 V.b. The sameness of the Form 167 VI. Influence in the tradition: Aristotle on predication, and the PM 171 VII. Chapter conclusion 175 CHAPTER 5: THE VIRTUE OF BEAUTY . 177 I. Beauty’s role in generation 178 I.a. Beauty, Καλλονή, καλός, and κάλλος 178 I.b. Why is generation only in the beautiful? 181 II. Implications for moral education 183 II.a. Engaging the emotions in education 184 II.b. Moral education review 185 II.c. Platonic virtue ethics 187 II.d. Curriculum: Beauty in the classroom 189 III. Chapter conclusion 198 CONCLUSION . 199 APPENDIX . 201 “What good is love?” Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis 34:2 (2014), 57-73 . 202 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 219 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My study of Plato’s philosophy is due chiefly to the passion and dedication of brilliant teachers. A profound debt is owed to Cal Townsend and John Dyck, whose instruction and great personal mentorship during my undergraduate honours thesis set the trajectory for this work. Jerry Santas has been incredibly kind to take on the role of external supervisor for my doctoral research; and Don Morrison and Andrew Mason enabled me to bring these ideas to life. I wish further to express my very deep appreciation to Dory Scaltsas, my primary supervisor. His peerless Socratic cross- examinations allowed me to explore and organise my hypotheses under scrutiny, and his faith in me instilled a confidence to take risks in defending them. Material from this thesis has been presented in Ancient Olympia, Asilomar, Athens, Cambridge, Durham, Edmonton, Heraklion, Langley, London, Newcastle, Oxford, Pisa, San Francisco, and St Andrews; for BBC Scotland and educational media; and at numerous workshops and seminars in Edinburgh. I am grateful to the audiences and participants at all these events for invaluable questions and discussions. Special thanks are due to Sarah Broadie, Jamie Dow, Michael Griffin, Jay Kennedy, David Konstan, Alexander Nehamas, and Frisbee Sheffield. Catherine Rowett has been a continuous source of encouragement and inspiration. The Athens of the North lives up to its namesake in the much-loved reading groups of the Philosophy and Classics departments at Edinburgh. My fellow students have greatly challenged and cheered me, and I especially thank Jane Orton for countless hours of dialogue. I wish my own students could know how much they’ve changed my life. Sincere appreciation is due to the following organisations for supporting this project: the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, for a Doctoral Fellowship; the University of Edinburgh, for tuition; the School of Philosophy, Psychology, and Language Sciences, for a Shaw Fellowship/Career Development Scholarship and generous research grants; and the Thomas Weidemann Memorial Fund, for funding my classical research travels. I should note that material from Chapter 5 has been published in Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis, and is reproduced in the Appendix with permission from the publisher. I humbly thank my family and friends—who were continually expected to listen to thoughts on the True, the Just, and the Beautiful—for their encouragement, their humour, and their patience. I am beholden to my sister, Kim, and my parents, Craig and Lynda Hosty, whose unwavering love and support has enabled me to flourish. My enduring gratitude goes to Brandon Ware, my greatest champion. The “great sea of beauty” I’ve witnessed in this endeavour counts among it such love as even the most oceanic of hearts re-reckons its ability to hold.