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pascalibrary's review against another edition
4.0
4/5 Stars. A great novel, great treatise, and great humor.
According to Aristophanes, Symposium and I must have, at one point, been a hideously conjoined book-human abomination because I absolutely LOVED this. By far the best of Plato that I've read so far, though it does have some flaws.
The main thing that made this so palatable was the structure of the book. Putting philosophy into a novelistic format makes it both digestible and interesting. It gives something to break up the flow of logic and argument. The story here was basic, but each character was distinct, at least philosophically, and that was very refreshing compared to a blank slate character designed to just agree with Socrates, or for him to bounce ideas off of.
Each participant in the Symposium gives a separate view on Love and its nature, and each successive one builds on the last in some way. For once, I don't think Socrates completely dominated the discussion. Minus the deities, everyone gave an okay argument, except for Phaedrus. Aristophanes and Agathon stood out, but again all of them were fine. Plato's writing ability was exemplified here and he has cemented himself as an amazing author as well as philosopher.
The only big issue I had with the book was probably due to the specific edition. There were formatting errors here and there, particularly with quotations. Also, the book had an incredibly long introduction that tripled as a summary and dissection. It was before the book actually even started that he dove into the arguments and gave context and whatever else. This was completely meaningless to me since it was, again, before the main book so I had absolutely no clue what he was talking about it. I'm sure it would be interesting afterwards, but reading it first left such a bad taste in my mouth that I probably won't return to it. The order of inclusion baffles me thoroughly.
Overall, this is a great book and the only issues I had with it are probably not present in other editions. For reference, mine was the kindle edition translated by Benjamin Jowett. Symposium is, so far, Plato at his best, and I think this would be a great start for anyone interested in philosophy.
According to Aristophanes, Symposium and I must have, at one point, been a hideously conjoined book-human abomination because I absolutely LOVED this. By far the best of Plato that I've read so far, though it does have some flaws.
The main thing that made this so palatable was the structure of the book. Putting philosophy into a novelistic format makes it both digestible and interesting. It gives something to break up the flow of logic and argument. The story here was basic, but each character was distinct, at least philosophically, and that was very refreshing compared to a blank slate character designed to just agree with Socrates, or for him to bounce ideas off of.
Each participant in the Symposium gives a separate view on Love and its nature, and each successive one builds on the last in some way. For once, I don't think Socrates completely dominated the discussion. Minus the deities, everyone gave an okay argument, except for Phaedrus. Aristophanes and Agathon stood out, but again all of them were fine. Plato's writing ability was exemplified here and he has cemented himself as an amazing author as well as philosopher.
The only big issue I had with the book was probably due to the specific edition. There were formatting errors here and there, particularly with quotations. Also, the book had an incredibly long introduction that tripled as a summary and dissection. It was before the book actually even started that he dove into the arguments and gave context and whatever else. This was completely meaningless to me since it was, again, before the main book so I had absolutely no clue what he was talking about it. I'm sure it would be interesting afterwards, but reading it first left such a bad taste in my mouth that I probably won't return to it. The order of inclusion baffles me thoroughly.
Overall, this is a great book and the only issues I had with it are probably not present in other editions. For reference, mine was the kindle edition translated by Benjamin Jowett. Symposium is, so far, Plato at his best, and I think this would be a great start for anyone interested in philosophy.
witherskeleton's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
menintrees's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
ed_moore's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.5
Plato’s ’Symposium’ recounts a fictional dinner and discussion between philosophers and playwrights in celebration of the tragedian Agathon. The most notable faces present are Socrates and Aristophanes, and Plato in his commentary on love just has a bit of fun creating speeches for these great classical figures. They each make a speech on love, some more agreeable than others and all have a little debate and laugh about it, all in all it being positive vibes.
I found the opening of a companion asking for a recount of this dinner quite detached and unnecessary, but the rest was engaging and an interesting insight on the classical conception of love, and how really after so many years humans haven’t really changed. We still drink and foolishly pursue love or lament it and many of the ideas of Plato really haven’t changed.
There wasn’t much plot but the invented personas of the “characters” were lively and pleasant, it was the type of dinner I would want to be in attendance of. Also Alcibiades’ drunken declaration of love for Socrates is absolutely marvellous.