Eros, Wisdom, and Silence: Plato's Erotic Dialogues

Description

Eros, Wisdom, and Silence is a close reading of Plato's Seventh Letter and his dialogues Symposium and Phaedrus, with significant attention also given to Alcibiades I. A book about love, James Rhodes's work was conceived as a conversation and meant to be read side by side with Plato's works and those of his worthy interlocutors. It invites lovers to participate in conversations that move their souls to love, and it also invites the reader to take part in the author's dialogues with Plato and his commentators. Rhodes addresses two closely related questions: First, what does Plato mean when he says in the Seventh Letter that he never has written and never will write anything concerning that about which he is serious? Second, what does Socrates mean when he claims to have an art of eros and that this techne is the only thing he knows? Through careful analysis, Rhodes establishes answers to these questions. He determines that Plato cannot write anything concerning that about which he is serious because his most profound knowledge consists of his soul's silent vision of ultimate, transcendent reality, which is ineffable. Rhodes also shows that, for Socrates, eros is a symbol for the soul's experience of divine reality, which pulls every element of human nature toward its proper end, but which also leads people to evil and tyranny when human resistance causes it to become diseased. Opening up a new avenue of Plato scholarship, Eros, Wisdom, and Silence is political philosophy at its conversational best. Scholars and students in political philosophy, classical studies, and religious studies will find this work invaluable.

Get the book

Similar books

• 

  Single Parents: A Reference Handbook

  By Karen L. Kinnear

  Casey Foundation . 1995. Kids Count Data Book . Baltimore , MD : Annie E. Casey Foundation . Chambers , Diane . 1997. Solo Parenting : Raising Strong and Happy Families . Minneapolis : Fairview Press . Cherlin , Andrew J. , ed . 1988.

• 

  Women, Politics, Media: Uneasy Relations in Comparative Perspective

  By Karen Ross

  ... American studies report that salient differences in approach and priorities do exist which fracture along gendered lines . ( See , for example , Thomas , 1991 ; Boles , 1991 ; Blankenship & Robson , 1995 ; Schumaker & Burns , 1998. ) ...

• 

  Climbing the Hill: Gender Conflict in Congress

  By Karen Foerstel, Herbert N. Foerstel

  When the voters went to the polls in November 1992 , they gave Harman a decisive victory over Flores , but two years later Harman would have a more difficult battle against still another Republican woman , Councilwoman Susan Brooks .

• 

  西柏坡研究.四

  By 西柏坡纪念馆

  本书是2015年度国家社会科学重大项目“西柏坡时期中国共产党历史文献整理与研究”（15ZDB043）的文字成果。汇编了近年来社会各界研究西柏坡精神、西柏坡历史、两个务必、“赶考 ...

• 

  西柏坡研究(三)

  By 西柏坡纪念馆

  20世纪90年代初以来，西柏坡精神研究经历了从初步到逐步深入、从河北省到走向全国、从理论研究到成为现代化建设特别是全面建设小康社会的实践指导这样一个不断发展的过程。

• 

  Feminism and the Legacy of Revolution: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chiapas

  By Karen Kampwirth

  Booth, John. 1985. The End and the Beginning: The Nicaraguan Revolution. Boulder: Westview. Booth, John, and Thomas W. Walker. 1989. Understanding Central America. Boulder: Westview Borge, Tomás. 1984. Carlos, the Dawn Ls No Longer ...

• 

  American Legislative Leaders in the West, 1911-1994

  By Nancy Weatherly Sharp, James Roger Sharp

  ... ROBERT MCMASTER 1967 ELDRIDGE DONALD DELOS 1970 COPELAND THOMAS L 1971 SWAYZE THOMAS ALLEN JR 1973 SAWYER LEONARD ALSON ... K 1919 SULLIVAN EUGENE J 1921 EWART LEWIS R STATE NAME 1 ST SPKR ARIZONA 1912 BRADNER SAMUEL B 292 APPENDIX 1.

• 

  The State of Social Welfare: The Twentieth Century in Cross-national Review

  By John C. Dixon, Robert P. Scheurell

  This collection of documents analyzes the global rise and fall of the welfare state in the 20th century. It concentrates on Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Zimbabwe.

• 

  Human Rights and International Political Economy in Third World Nations: Multinational Corporations, Foreign Aid, and Repression

  By William Meyer

  Finally , shortly after the disaster , UC claimed that they believed the leak may have been caused by the deliberate sabotage of a disgruntled employee ( Bogard , 1989 : 3—4 ) . Bogard's investigation of the Bhopal disaster considers ...

• 

  Experiencing Citizenship: Concepts and Models for Service-learning in Political Science

  By William E. Hudson, Richard M. Battistoni

  This volume is part of a series of 18 monographs service learning and the academic disciplines. This collection of essays focuses on the use of service learning as an approach to teaching and learning in political science.