Plato's Symposium: The Ethics of Desire

by Frisbee Sheffield

Frisbee Sheffield argues that the Symposium has been unduly marginalized by philosophers. Although the topic, eros , and the setting at a symposium have seemed anomalous, she demonstrates that both are intimately related to Plato's preoccupation with the nature of the good life, with virtue, and how it is acquired and transmitted. For Plato, analyzing our desires is a way of reflecting on the kind of people we will turn out to be and on our chances of leading a worthwhile and happy life. In its focus on the question why he considered desires to be amenable to this type of reflection, this book explores Plato's ethics of desire.

Genres: Philosophy

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Dr. Frisbee Candida Cheyenne Sheffield is an expert on Plato's Symposium and Phaedrus, and serves as Director of Studies in Philosophy at Christ's College, Cambridge (UK), and by-fellow for Classics at Girton College, Cambridge, having earned a D.Phil. from Oxford University.

Reviews

[Julia Novaes · Rating 4 out of 5]

sexy! which you know is the first of the important criteria for liking platonic scholarship