Scaling the Ladder. Why the Final Step of the Lover’s Ascent is a Generalizing Step

Authors

  • Anthony Hooper The University of Sydney

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14195/2183-4105_15_6

Keywords:

Plato, Symposium, Scala Amoris, Beauty

Abstract

The ‘Scala Amoris’ (210a-212b), or ‘Ladder of Love’, constitutes the philosophical and aesthetic centrepiece of Socrates’ encomium of Eros in Plato’s Symposium. Here Diotima describes how a lover ascending up the Ladder directs his erotic attention to a number of difference kinds of beautiful objects, first bodies, then souls, just institutions and knowledge, until he catches a glimpse of Beauty itself. In this paper I advance an ‘inclusive’ reading of the lover’s ascent – to use Price’s 1991 terminology – with a particular emphasis on justifying such a reading concerning the final step.

http://dx.doi.org/10.14195/2183-4105_15_6

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Published

2015-12-30

How to Cite

Hooper, A. (2015). Scaling the Ladder. Why the Final Step of the Lover’s Ascent is a Generalizing Step. PLATO JOURNAL, 15, 95-106. https://doi.org/10.14195/2183-4105_15_6

Issue

Vol. 15 (2015): Plato Journal #15

Section

Articles

License

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows sharing the work with recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal.