Plato's Erotic World
Author | : Jill Gordon |
Publisher | : Cambridge University Press |
Total Pages | : 255 |
Release | : 2012-08-13 |
ISBN-10 | : 9781139536851 |
ISBN-13 | : 1139536850 |
Rating | : 4/5 (850 Downloads) |
Download or read book Plato's Erotic World written by Jill Gordon and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-08-13 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Plato's entire fictive world is permeated with philosophical concern for Eros, well beyond the so-called erotic dialogues. Several metaphysical, epistemological and cosmological conversations - Timaeus, Cratylus, Parmenides, Theaetetus and Phaedo - demonstrate that Eros lies at the root of the human condition and that properly guided Eros is the essence of a life well lived. This book presents a holistic vision of Eros, beginning with the presence of Eros at the origin of the cosmos and the human soul, surveying four types of human self-cultivation aimed at good guidance of Eros and concluding with human death as a return to our origins. The book challenges conventional wisdom regarding the 'erotic dialogues' and demonstrates that Plato's world is erotic from beginning to end: the human soul is primordially erotic and the well-cultivated erotic soul can best remember and return to its origins, its lifelong erotic desire.