Symposium - AIC

Yuji Kurihara
wonderfully beautiful in its nature” (210e2-5). In my reading of the subjunctives, (b) seeing Beauty
itself constitutes the final stage, in addition to (a) seeing the knowledge of Beauty. How, then, are
these two cognitions related to each other?
As F. C. White points out, most scholars presuppose that the telos of the Ladder of
Love consists in the lover’s contemplation of Beauty itself. White, on the other hand, argues, “the
higher mysteries reach their summit … in the philosopher’s bringing forth of true virtue and in the
immortality that this bestows.” 18 White is right in following Diotima’s generic definition of love
(205a-206a) and taking into account the “Lesser Mysteries” (208e-209c) for the sake of (ὧν ἕνεκα
210a1) the “Greater (Higher) Mysteries.” In the Lesser Mysteries, the lover encounters a beautiful
person and educates (παιδεύειν 209c2) him to become a good man (τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν ἀγαθὸν c1) by
begetting virtue (a3-4, b8, c3) and rearing it together (c4-7). Similarly, according to White, the true
lover in the Greater Mysteries begets true virtue, which amounts to the philosophical works and
external discourse shared with his beloved. Thus, the true lover as a philosopher can attain
immortality by leaving true virtue as such behind for the future generations. 19
I agree with White that the telos of the Ladder of Love is not characterized merely as seeing
Beauty itself but as the philosophical activities of the lover and the beloved. As White stresses,
Diotima explicates the philosophical life as worth living for the lover who is contemplating Beauty
(cf. 211d1-3). However, White’s analysis is not sufficient to ensure that the lover’s philosophical life
must involve the beloved’s engagement in it, for the text only indicates the interaction of the lover
with Beauty, not with the beloved (211d-212a). 20 To resolve this problem, as I propose, we should
look into Diotima’s two-step account of the final stage of the ascent. First, (a) Diotima describes the
lover’s learning process of Beauty itself, which is led by the guide who manifests and actualizes her
knowledge of it. Although the lover has not acquired knowledge of Beauty, as long as he is a student,
he actually participates in that knowledge and engages in philosophical activities with the guide, who
lives a philosophical life. While as teacher the guide attempts to explain what Beauty is, the lover
makes every effort to receive the guide’s explanation as correct. This is how the lover sees the
knowledge of Beauty appearing in the dialogical interaction between him and the guide. Second, (b)
Diotima goes on to state that the lover suddenly (ἐξαίφνης 210e4) beholds Beauty itself, which must
mean that the lover succeeds in acquiring the knowledge of Beauty. This knowledge, as we saw,
appears in the philosophical dialogue between the teacher and the student. By beholding Beauty itself,
therefore, the lover then becomes a philosophical guide and begins to educate a beautiful person to be
good, just like the lover in the Lesser Mysteries does. Thus, the lover’s acquisition of the knowledge
of Beauty is no doubt a momentary experience, but it never ends at this point. While contemplating
Beauty itself, 21 the lover continues to actualize his knowledge through philosophical engagement with
the beloved. In this dialogical nature of that knowledge, we can conclude that the telos of the Ladder
of Love resides in the lover’s philosophical life and involves the beloved’s engagement in it.
Consequently, Diotima represents the final stage of eros as both (a) the ascent and (b) the
descent of philosophy, at the summit of which the lover suddenly changes his role from student to
teacher. By following the transmitted text and reading τελευτήσῃ (211c7) and καὶ γνῷ (c8), we will
discover that these two sides of philosophy are closely related to each other at the final stage of the
Ladder.
4. Socratic Eros and Platonic Education
I have thus far elucidated the dialogical nature of knowledge of Beauty in this passage. As knower,
the guide aims to explain what Beauty is, while as pupil, the lover accepts the guide’s explanation as
correct and tries to understand it, even though he himself cannot yet give an account of Beauty. Only
in succeeding in leading the lover to behold Beauty, can the guide legitimately call herself a knower
for the first time, thus proving her teaching ability. In other words, it is then that the guide becomes
“wise about love matters” (ταῦτά [sc. τὰ ἐρωτικά] τε σοφή 201d3) and can educate the lover. In the
same way, the lover encounters a new lover and initiates him into the mystical rites of philosophy by
teaching the matters of love. It is not until he succeeds in leading another lover to contemplate Beauty
that the lover-guide partakes of immortality, thus being loved by the gods. Therefore, the true virtue
18 White (2004) 366.
19 White (2004) 374-8.
20 Cf. Sheffield (2006) 145-6, 149; Blondell (2006) 155-6. Interestingly, White, (2004) 372, does read ἵνα for καί (211c8)
and virtually admits the finality of having knowledge of Beauty itself.
21 Note Plato’s frequent uses of present participles here (θεωµένῳ αὐτὸ τὸ καλόν 211d2-3, θεωµένου καὶ συνόντος αὐτῷ
212a2; cf. ἐφαπτοµένῳ 212a5). See also ὁρῶν (211d5) and ὁρόντες (d6); cf. θεᾶσθαι (d7).
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