Study of Plato's ideas about marriage, morality, and happiness

In one of his famous Symposiums, Plato, one of the greatest philosophers of ancient Greece, explains his concept of true love, and it is the most subtle and beautiful statement there is. In a subtle way, his love theory separated the elements of sexual love from friendship. He said that the best friendship is that which exists between two lovers. It's a relationship that grows out of erotic love and, in turn, feeds and strengthens the erotic love. From his statement, Plato meant that friendship is what strengthens and develops erotic love; it converts it from lust of possession desires shared to understand each other better, and also to understand the universe. From Plato’s ideas, friendship is the basic foundation of erotic love and can transform it into a magnanimous affair that is full of philosophical impulses. It is love is given more to the soul than to the body.

Plato, in his work, uses the terms philia and eros to describe what he called a different part of love. Eros constitutes intense desire that is mostly sexual, and is referred to as erotic. In his writing, however, Plato gives a notion that eros is a desire that searches for transcendental beauty that can remind us of the beauty existing in the universe. On the other hand, philia, another kind of love according to Plato, is contrary to eros. In this type of love, appreciation of others dominates. It can be interpreted as the love that is between good friends, family members and comes with loyalty.

Plato’s notion of virtue

Plato first claims that there is no teacher of virtue and thus making virtue not teachable. However, virtue is born out of appreciation of beauty and knowledge. Thus, since it cannot be cleared stated, whatever it is, there are some elements of appreciation of beauty as well as knowledge. It is not teachable only because teachers of virtue have not been found yet. The idea means that one can easily pass knowledge to their students but only appreciation of that knowledge brings the virtue to life.

In analyzing what Plato meant by virtue is knowledge, one can think that knowledge is necessary to have virtue. This implies that if one knew what is right and wrong and chose to do the right thing, then he or she has a virtue. It is, therefore, that voice of reason that leaves you no other choice but to do the right thing. This cancels the notion of deliberate evil that some sections of the society use after doing wrong things. It simply means they have no virtue in them. They do not have knowledge and therefore are ignorant. It is impossible to teach someone display virtue, as Plato said, because we have our own conscience to deal choices we have. Teachers can give knowledge, but virtue is left for the interpretation of that knowledge according to the individual.

Plato’s notion of happiness

Plato asserted that human beings must be morally upright if they want to be truly happy. Also, a person must have some wisdom and courage to pursue happiness. Wisdom will help one in understanding the moral reality of life and apply to their daily living experiences. On the other side, Plato states that courage helps in facing the adversity of life and the person will eventually acquire happiness. It’s the courage of one’s conviction as opposed to the one needed on the battlefield. This can be said to have been borrowed from his mentor, Socrates, who claimed that it is better to die than to sacrifice your convictions. Plato’s view is that all human beings have desires and for them to be happy, they must have more self-control. A person should not let their desire for sex, food or good things in life controls them or their way of life. Moreover, justice is also at the center of happiness. It is related to one's character. Those who are just and who practice justice would have no guilt in them and therefore would experience full happiness in their lives. They have a healthy soul, which rules their desire and appetite for the honor. They have peace of mind and are truly happy. In addition, Plato also states that a person needs to be rational in what they do in life. The rational person would use wisdom in making choices and live a happy life full of courage, justice, self-control instead of foolishness and ignorance.

From the view of Plato’s description of love, one can clearly agree with him especially when he says “…and when one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth or lover of another sort, the pair are lost in amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other’s sight, as I may say, even for a moment (p.221)”. Plato’s words from symposium state what people truly feel when they fall in love, and it is a feeling that they cannot explain and the age does not matter, they will be lost in amazement, the feeling of being part of the other one. This type of love is usually what Plato referred to as eros, and it is developed from friendship as he put in words of the symposium.

Also, Plato defined love as “…simply the name for desire and pursuit of the whole” (p.25) it shows that love is a desire that everyone would like to fulfill and doing so, they are trying to pursue or get to know themselves. For the desire to be complete, we must pursue wholeness by finding love. I think that is what Plato meant by this statement. In another part, Plato claimed that “he, who loves touches, does not walk in darkness”. This is a philosophical statement that can be interpreted to mean that those who feel true love, deep inside their soul or heart, will always be happy and shine. There would not be darkness can also mean that their life will be full of justice and honor as they would not harm other people or the one they love.

Plato’s description of love has a lot of sense in it, though it is wrapped in a philosophical language and, thus, difficult to understand. For example, when he says that “Love is of something, and that which love desires is not that which love is or has; for no man desires that which he is or has. And love is of the beautiful, and therefore has not the beautiful”. This cannot be easily understood. However, a simple interpretation would mean that when Plato says “love is not of beautiful but has not the beautiful”, Plato wanted to show that it is not the beautiful people and other images that we fall in love with, it is the love we have towards them that makes everything beautiful. Love goes beyond physical beauty and shines in the soul, and thus appearance does not matter because if it does, then love would not last as physical beauty cannot be defined.

Conclusion

Plato, as one of the greatest philosophers, gave a definition of love, virtue and true happiness in his works. In his symposiums he made a clear description of what he thinks love is, and the feeling of true connection between the souls of people. Plato said they become part of each other to the extent that when one is not around, the other cannot exist with a peace of mind. As well, he explains that people need to acquire virtue in order to be happy.



Bibliography

Warner, Martin. "Love, self, and Plato's Symposium." The Philosophical Quarterly (1950-) 29, no. 117 (1979): 329-339.