The Banquet - Plato ; My Reflection ( Philosophy )

Reflection

Each of us has our own understanding or philosophy about Love, and we based it to what we experience every day when we encounter it. As I read the story written by Plato " The banquet " the story talks about the presentation of idea or point of view about Love, by the words of men, and the concept of priestess Diotima, that was spoke and delivered by Socrates. This was take place during the feast for the celebration. The story was centered in the speech of Socrates which is originally from Diotima, by discussing Diotima’s concept of Love by giving relations with Poverty and Resource. By reading the story, I encountered different concepts of Love that was argued with their personal relationship with Wisdom and Beauty. In this reflection I will show the different concepts of love based to the Symposium and a story behind Diotima’s idea with my own understanding, and the attitude of the writer.

Love indeed is an extraordinary feeling, that’s what I concluded base to the story and concepts of men. I would like to add a backup story from the symposium of men, and I will proceed to Diotima's point of view from the Banquet Symposium of men was a great start for them to discuss the concept of love. The first one focused his topic to the virtue of bravery in love. Where, he meant that someone needs to take the lead to sacrifice himself for the sake of his beloved, that's how he define love. Sometimes we experienced difficult situations, like what our parents do the most, they sacrifice themselves to work hard just for their children to provide what they need in life. That’s how bravery of love based to reality. Another speech was given by a doctor, and he claimed that love can be found in the coexistence of opposites, not only in humans but also in nature, profession like medicine, music and more. I realized that Love can be a complex thing, we do experience it not just in humans but also in animals or non living things like stuff toy. More interesting concepts was revealed about love and so on, until one of the men named Socrates starts his discussion with unsurprising start, instead of using his own idea about love, he used to discussed the speech that he heard when he was young, from a priestess woman named Diotima. As what I understand to the story of “ The Banquet “ Diotima believes that Love was born in Poverty and Resourcefulness. Desiring good things ( Wisdom ) that will lead to Happiness. Love is must be a weigh both qualities together. We may die in poverty, but we may survive with our resource. Socrates also retell that the purpose of love is give birth in beauty. Not just beauty but specifically Soul's beauty itself. In the same way, Aphrodite was born in the form of beauty. Lover is a the source of beauty, and by conceiving love inside, it will result a child with beauty. For love is with Resource and Poverty, for me it’s really a strange case. As what I understand though, it goes with the lover's characteristics of resource and Poverty, love must have both those things, not just in the presence of poverty, and nor in just in the presence of resource. Both things must stay together as fair as it is. In the other hand, as story say that for Wisdom had to do with the fairest things, and Love is directed to what is fair. And so Love must need to be a friend of Wisdom or we must love wisdom and that’s what we called Philosophy. For having knowledge, understanding and good judgement, that’s where Love is capable of. Still apart of the discussion of Socrates originally from Diotima that Love leads the lover into several steps, from loving beautiful body, loving all beautiful body, loving souls, loving laws and practices, and so on, until end reach the top, by contemplating the beauty itself. As we humans live in this sphere, those concepts of love was based to our existence, and that’s how those people of in the story judge the presence of love.

As I read the story, by observing how Plato focused his story, I observed that he refused the romance of sexual love, and he value the story of love for wisdom and beauty. And by connecting Love’s presence to poverty and resource. Including the search of wisdom as the most valuable pursuits. I do noticed the difference of their ideas, and however the story tells us the importance of Love living with wisdom and beauty. As this concepts written in the story, that’s their own philosophy and as we may go with our journey, we might experience to the reality. As ideas exist and it’s because existence of Love as it was experienced by human being. That’s what I reflect to my self from this Story.

This is My Reflection From the story The Banquet written by Plato. If you watlnt to know the story, you can watch it in YouTube, its a little bit Confusing but you will understand the Topic as you watch, and read.

Thank you....