Introduction
Phaedrus is a dialogue written by Plato, a set of conversations between Socrates and Phaedrus as they walk along the roads outside Athens. The text of the dialogue is constructed in a conversation-based manner where the speakers share philosophical ideas about love, eroticism, and rhetoric as a manifestation of the relationship between words and the reality they represent. The dialogue between Socrates, who was Plato’s teacher, and Phaedrus evolves around three main speeches delivered by Socrates and Lysias, the son of Cephalus. In a poetic and well-conveyed narration, Plato presents a philosophical interpretation of such complex phenomena as love, truth, soul, and the art of rhetoric, which align with the prominent ideas of his other dialogues.
Discussion of the Main Ideas in 243-257
While communicating, Phaedrus shares with Socrates a speech by Lysias on the nature of love. According to this speech, love is harmful and deteriorating because a lover uses the one they love only for pleasure, being engaged in the madness of love, which is why it is essential to be a non-lover (Plato 20-21). In response to this speech, Socrates devoted his speech to appraising love’s madness as a positive thing.
Indeed, Socrates’ speech is characterized by several examples and descriptions that justify why madness is a divine and good attribute of human life. In particular, Socrates says that “some of our greatest blessings come from madness when it is granted to us as a divine gift” (Plato 25-26). Indeed, people’s madness often allows them to act in a fulfilling and helpful way, which is not observed when they are in their regular state of mind.
The speaker continues by referring to the madness of love given by gods to benefit humanity, which is why people should not fear it. Socrates’ words illustrate that madness is “sent by the gods to benefit the lover and his beloved” (Plato 27). He illustrates this claim with examples of madness manifested via prophecy that gives people hope. Furthermore, there is another type of madness provided by Muses; it possesses poets and inspires them, proving the benefits of the madness of love (Plato 27). Thus, the first part of Socrates’ speech argues that the experience of madness lovers should not be perceived as a negative phenomenon. On the contrary, it is essential to deepen the investigation of the soul’s origins to detect the divine’s impact on it.
The next part of the speech discusses the philosophical meaning of the soul, whether it is of a divine or human origin. Socrates starts his argument by claiming that the soul is immortal because it is ever-moving (Plato 27). The continuous movement of the soul is internal because “it is only something which moves itself that never stops moving because it never abandons itself” (Plato 27). Having proven that the soul is immortal, Socrates moves to the metaphorical explanation of the soul’s character, which he represents through the analogy with a charioteer and horses representing the soul.
It is stated that “while the horses and charioteers of gods are always thoroughly good, those of everyone else are a mixture,” where one of the horses is noble, and the other is the opposite (Plato 28). The soul’s immortality allows it to reach the heavens and grow wings, which become bigger when good deeds are done, and evil and wrongdoings “cause them to shrink and perish” (Plato 29). Chariots represent the upbeat and divine, while chaos and continuous conflict exist outside them.
Since souls see things as they are, they enable people to appreciate beauty in its purity. In the next part of his speech, Socrates connects the argument of the ability of the soul to experience true beauty with the claim of the madness of love. He states that love madness is “the most thoroughly e good of all kinds of possession, not only for the man who is possessed but also for anyone who is touched by it” (Plato 33).
The author distinguished between the love experienced physically toward the body, which is typical for the recently initiated, and the ultimate divine love toward beauty, which makes the soul’s wings grow (Plato 35-36). The ultimate task of a lover is to capture the ultimate feeling of happiness when they come in contact with an object of love resembling a divine figure. Finalizing the speech, Socrates returns to the metaphor of the three-fold soul. When a charioteer meets a beloved one, his good horse strains itself in shame, but the lousy horse seeks pleasures without restraints (Plato 38). Thus, the lover is divine, and mortal rewards drive a non-lover.
Relationship of Phaedrus’ Ideas with Other Dialogues by Plato
The philosophical ideas presented in Phaedrus are intertwined with other dialogues written by Plato around the same time. More specifically, the issues of love and its meaning investigated in Phaedrus are also closely addressed in the Symposium. While both dialogues share similarities in structure, style, and poetic narration, they also focus on the search for the understanding of the true meaning of love in all its complexity of mortal and divine aspects intertwining. Furthermore, similar to Plato investigating the origin and character of the soul in Phaedrus, the philosopher focuses on investigating the soul’s immortality in the Phaedo dialogue.
The idea of the soul’s immortal nature is transparent in this philosophical work, which connects it with the main ideas on the soul found in Phaedrus. Moreover, there is a close relationship between the ideas articulated by Plato in the Republic and Phaedrus, especially the ones related to the three-fold soul structure. In both works, the philosopher uses dialogues of two interlocutors to find the true meaning of the soul. In Phaedrus, they use it to make an argument on the madness of love, and in the Republic, the soul is investigated to understand justice.
Conclusion
To summarize, Plato’s Phaedrus is an example of a meticulously written philosophical work touching on such complex metaphysical issues as love, soul, and goodness. Using the rhetorical form of a dialogue, Plato provides a well-built logical argument on the composition of the soul, the benefits of madness, and the importance of understanding the nature of love. Tying these phenomena to the divine origins and connections with gods, the philosopher argues that true love is divine and driven by the better part of the soul.
Work Cited
Plato. Phaedrus. Translated by Robin Waterfield, Oxford University Press, 2002.