Problem 1
Due before class on January 12

      It's traditional to understand Socrates' speech (pp. 32-50) as the core of the Symposium, for reasons that are easy to see once we've read it.  Among other things, it's clear that when today we hear the phrase "platonic love," what's meant is a jarringly simplified version of what's actually said in this long passage.

      In class, it may be interesting to explore how some respected philosophers have recently challenged the centrality--or at least the exclusive validity--of Socrates' speech in relation to the larger dialogue.  For now, though, I'm asking you to consider just why it is that Socrates' speech seems so naturally to stand out.  In about 200 to 250 words--that's a page or a bit less, double-spaced--what textual signals does the reader get that Socrates is distinctive, important, committed to the truth?

      In the course of this, naturally you can say a few words about Socrates' argument about love--or rather, about what we can infer about love from his elliptical methods of exposition.  More generally, though, I'm inviting you to consider the ways in which Plato as a literary writer is guiding us to take Socrates seriously on a philosophical plane.  What is the character Socrates like, and how does he speak and act?  In what ways is the character Socrates subverting the conversational game in progress, and how does Plato make us believe that the character Socrates is also winning the game?  (If you don't agree that those things are happening, of course, by all means explain why.)

      My criteria for evaluating this piece of writing are:
        --  You give specific, relevant examples (with page references)
        --  You explain what your examples show (according to you) about Plato's strategy as a writer

      This assignment is due an hour before class, at 6 p.m., on Thursday, January 12.  You can email your text (haugen@hss.caltech.edu) or bring a hard copy to my office (301d Dabney:  through the double doors near the elevator).


Course home page