Love And Philosophy

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Love and Philosophy

Summary of Speech 1

Vlastos defines love not in terms of a sufficient condition; rather love is defined as a necessary condition. This definition refers to the cases where a person is seeking something for others or who is doing good to others. It is asserted that the Vlastos’s definition of love is much defective, where it is found that the essence of love is to possess virtue for oneself, wishing good things for others for their sake only. It is termed as an approach to find virtue for oneself and seek good for others.

Summary of Speech 2

Diotima proposes a ladder of love that maps certain stages highlighting particular traits of the one who is loved at each stage. Diotima’s ladder of love is also called Plato's ladder of love or Plato's ladder of Eros. It refers to the philosophy where there are six types of love and each kind makes up the rungs of the ladder. This ladder is the representative of understanding to love. She has associated some religious explanations with her ladder of love as well, taking into account a reference to Plato’s message of love. However, she has summarized the ladder of love, ranging from the love of a particular body; love of all bodies, then to love for souls, proceeding to love for laws and institutions and love for knowledge. It ends at love for love itself. Diotima is of the view that love is a definition of properties of the one who is loved, taking into account that only that individual is loved who has the objectification of excellence. An analysis of this excellence deprives us of the analysis of disinterested affection for the person who is loved by us. Diotima gives examples of fireman, teachers, and nurses who take care of others and seek to do something that is actually good, even if the love for others may be absent. It would not be wrong to say this definition of love is more of an expression of wellbeing rather than compassion or some sentiments that are felt for a single individual only.

Comparison of two speeches

In the two speeches, there is a comparison of understanding of love proposed by Diotima and Vlastos, taking into account that both the ideologies of love meet and then fall apart. Diotima categorized love in the form of hierarchies where there are some positions assigned to love. Here, one stage proceeds to the other. On the other hand, is the expression of love by Vlastos who is of the view that love is something universal, it is the cause of motivation that keeps this world and its happenings going, the major difference between the two understandings lies in the underlying approach where at one side love is universal and it has nothing to do with personal desires and intentions. Love is a hierarchy of leading to eternity. Diotima also believes that love is the cause of motivation that guides us to achieve anything.

It is found that the description of love proposed by Diotima refers to an uncertain approach of love. Her description is similar to that of Plato's way of determining a shift in the definition of love that ranges from a simple attempt to indefinite love and leading to a platform of identifying the commonalities in all types of love. Here, it is different from the ideology of love that was proposed by Vlastos because Diotima categorized love in a hierarchy that is an ordered sequence, where one step is positioned as superior to another. The hierarchy of love involves some non-Socratic ideas where love is one ultimate objects of life. Here, love is defined as in terms of physical beauty, taking into account the idea that physical love leads to spiritual love, which leads to the awareness of the beauty of sciences.

The major difference lies in the classification where Diotima presented stage of life referring to the ascent of love from some pure physical attraction to a more psychological approach whereas Vlastos highlighted love as an analysis that helps an individual to seek what is significant and virtual for oneself.

Analysis

As asserted by Diotima and Vlastos, love is purely natural, it is a bond and attraction that connects. Love is more like an approach that makes a human fall for someone who is appealing, depicts personal measures of excellence and has a strong bond of connectivity. Love is a set of feelings, behaviors, emotions, and beliefs that are assimilated and connected with some strong feeling of protectiveness, respect, affection, and warmth for another person.

In accordance with the speech of Diotima, it is asserted that love is a ladder of affection where romantic love is an impression that signifies human attitude when connected with another being who is a partner and a mate. Romantic Love is natural adhering to the fact that every human being has its own ideology towards love. A literal connotation of both, love and romance are defined in terms of natural phenomena. Moreover, culture may impact the beliefs associated with romantic love but the overall understanding and analysis of love is purely natural because romantic level is one of the spiritual settings that connects the soul.

If the idea and definition proposed by Vlastos is asserted, it can be said that love supported by technological world is a motivation that is retrieved from others using social media platform.

Love is an always spontaneous phenomenon. It does not require any kind of planning. There is no love with planning because if it is planned it is a strategy, not love. The natural phenomena of love satisfy the condition of chance rather than choice. Although the element of choice is found in the description quoted by Diotima who asserts that an individual fall in love with the one who has subject excellence. Despite Diotima’s notion, the ideology of love is still natural because one never knows the individual who is judged from the perspective of excellence inferring from a personal point of view. Moreover, if one is seeking personal excellence in some other being or human, then the connection that supports the seeking of those attributes is also a natural phenomenon.

Modern technologies such as Facebook and online dating has brought a two-dimensional impact, at one side, it has facilitated access to love by bringing people close to each other in the digital world and on the other hand it has ruined the underlying essence of love, people are more inclined towards materialism and exploitation of love.

Conclusion

Love is an abstraction based on underlying realities that are discussed by different authors and philosophers. Today, love is also assessed under sociological terms such as culture and technical advancement paving the way for different perspectives in terms of understanding love. It is asserted that love is modified under the impact of technology as well because exploitation is always there. Moreover, the underlying essence of love is natural that cannot be challenged because it is a bonding that not only connects bodies but also the souls of two different people.

Love is natural, it has nothing to do with culture and norms

Technological advancements have both facilitated and deprived love of its natural essence that can keep people and souls united

Love has nothing to do with planning. If love is planned then it cannot be pure. Even some planned actions turn out to be love in the end that infers that love is purely natural with no room to choose.