RE103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Platonic Love, Socratic Dialogue, Pedophilia
Document Summary
A socratic dialogue where the numerous attendants are schooled on the nature of love (cid:894)(cid:271)ased o(cid:374) plato(cid:859)s tea(cid:272)he(cid:396), o(cid:272)(cid:396)ates(cid:895) Plato presents it as an ethical practice (ethics: the practice of good vs bad) Plato was departing quite seriously from greek thought up until that point: it had certainly recognized its human, even cosmic power, but it was not as invested with the same ethical power. So for example, ancient greek writings variously described love: love ruled the universe together with strife, love was a demonic force, overwhelming, compelling desire. What was particularly distinct and disturbing to our present day society is that sexual relations between older and much younger men was often the model of this love called pederasty, because the boy is pubescent. This is different from pedophilia, where the child/boy is not near puberty. But still, ancient greek practices might be considered pedophilia in some cases today. There were nevertheless rules about these relations.
