The Religiosity of the Philosophical Life: Plato on Eros and the Human Soul
Abstract
In this dissertation, I argue that Plato understands the nature of philosophy to be a religious discipline in which love (eros) is what determines, in absolute fashion, what we know and how we act.In Chapter 1, I argue that for Plato, reason is a human faculty which images the Divine. The divine Ideas represent structures within our mind which reveal the Divine to human beings. Thus, reason, in granting self-knowledge, also grants knowledge of the Divine.I argue in Chapter 2 that Plato believes two simple desires run within human nature. One represents an innate rational desire to better know the Divine, the other an irrational desire to satisfy the desires of the body for their own sake.In Chapter 3, I look at the analogy of the charioteer in Phaedrus. I argue the analogy reflects the aforementioned bifurcated desires set before the intellect, and that in the analogy, eros, represented as a choice between these desires, is what determines what a person believes absolutely: granting knowledge (episteme) or opinion (doxe).In Chapter 4, I discuss philosophy as the religious life for Plato. This life begins with conversion, in which the soul comes to erotically desire the Divine, but it is also one of slow, continual growth towards knowledge of the Divine.In chapter 5, I discuss the nature of knowledge for Plato. I argue that knowledge represents a moment of insight into the Divine. Real knowledge is "existential knowledge": something so deep and abiding that we never act contrary to it.In Chapter 6, I argue that since knowledge is only derived from what we love, and since eros is a sovereign act of the soul, knowledge is incommunicable. Thus a soul can be aided by a teacher towards knowledge, but the teacher cannot instigate or control it.A final takeaway which I open up for future research follows: it is unsurprising that Plato as writer would take on the role of the teacher, and not to communicate knowledge directly, but rather to simply spur the reader to "convert" and to take on the philosophical life themselves.
Subject Area
Philosophy|Pedagogy|Theology
Recommended Citation
Smith, Brenton G, "The Religiosity of the Philosophical Life: Plato on Eros and the Human Soul" (2024). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI31236250.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI31236250
