Platonic Relationship
A platonic relationship is a close friendship between two individuals without sexual or romantic involvement ¹². The term "platonic" comes from the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, who wrote about different types of love in his works ¹. Plato believed that love could be divided into two categories: physical and spiritual ³. He believed that physical love was inferior to spiritual love, which he considered to be the highest form of love ³. Platonic love was one of the types of spiritual love that Plato wrote about, and he believed that it could bring individuals closer to a sacred ideal ³.
In modern times, the term "platonic relationship" is used to describe a relationship that is based on deep love for another person, but lacks romantic or sexual aspects ¹. The relationship is based on emotional connections and mutual interests, without any sexual or romantic involvement ⁴.
Platonic relationships can be formed between people of any gender and sexual orientation ¹. They can be very fulfilling and provide a sense of companionship and support without the complications of romantic relationships .
Source: Conversation with Bing, 26/10/2023
(1) What Is a Platonic Relationship? - Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-platonic-relationship-5185281.
(2) What Is A Platonic Relationship? - Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/what-is-a-platonic-relationship.html.
(3) What It Means to Have Platonic Love - Psych Central. https://psychcentral.com/relationships/platonic-relationship.
(4) 6 Types of Relationships and Their Effect on Your Life - Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/6-types-of-relationships-and-their-effect-on-your-life-5209431.
What Is the 'Ladder of Love' in Plato's 'Symposium'?
The "ladder of love" occurs in the text Symposium (c. 385-370 BC) by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. It's about a contest at a men's banquet, involving impromptu philosophical speeches in praise of Eros, the Greek god of love and sexual desire. Socrates summarized the speeches of five of the guests and then recounted the teachings of a priestess, Diotima. The ladder is a metaphor for the ascent a lover might make from purely physical attraction to something beautiful, as a beautiful body, the lowest rung, to actual contemplation of the Form of Beauty itself.
Diotima maps out the stages in this ascent in terms of what sort of beautiful thing the lover desires and is drawn toward.
- A particular beautiful body. This is the starting point, when love, which by definition is a desire for something we don’t have, is first aroused by the sight of individual beauty.
- All beautiful bodies. According to standard Platonic doctrine, all beautiful bodies share something in common, something the lover eventually comes to recognize. When he does recognize this, he moves beyond a passion for any particular body.
- Beautiful souls. Next, the lover comes to realize that spiritual and moral beauty matters much more than physical beauty. So he will now yearn for the sort of interaction with noble characters that will help him become a better person.
- Beautiful laws and institutions. These are created by good people (beautiful souls) and are the conditions which foster moral beauty.
- The beauty of knowledge. The lover turns his attention to all kinds of knowledge, but particularly, in the end to philosophical understanding. (Although the reason for this turn isn’t stated, it is presumably because philosophical wisdom is what underpins good laws and institutions.)
- Beauty itself – that is, the Form of the Beautiful. This is described as "an everlasting loveliness which neither comes nor goes, which neither flowers nor fades." It is the very essence of beauty, "subsisting of itself and by itself in an eternal oneness." And every particular beautiful thing is beautiful because of its connection to this Form. The lover who has ascended the ladder apprehends the Form of Beauty in a kind of vision or revelation, not through words or in the way that other sorts of more ordinary knowledge are known.
Diotima tells Socrates that if he ever reached the highest rung on the ladder and contemplated the Form of Beauty, he would never again be seduced by the physical attractions of beautiful youths. Nothing could make life more worth living than enjoying this sort of vision. Because the Form of Beauty is perfect, it will inspire perfect virtue in those who contemplate it.
This account of the ladder of love is the source for the familiar notion of "Platonic love," by which is meant the sort of love that is not expressed through sexual relations. The description of the ascent can be viewed as an account of sublimation, the process of transforming one sort of impulse into another, usually, one that is viewed as "higher" or more valuable. In this instance, the sexual desire for a beautiful body becomes sublimated into a desire for philosophical understanding and insight.
Citation: Westacott, Emrys. "What Is the 'Ladder of Love' in Plato's 'Symposium'?" ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/platos-ladder-of-love-2670661.
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ReplyDeleteI think the idea of "The Theory of Forms" can be a more generally accepted one than the "Ladder of Love".
ReplyDeleteWhat I mean is, most people can use The Theory of Forms as a way of looking at things, not necessarily thinking it is real though. People can imagine an ideal form of whatever they are working on and aim to achieve that. For example, I can imagine an ideal philosophy class at U3A and aim to make the PPPD class be more like that ideal form. Most people would agree that is a reasonably good idea.
On the other hand, for the Ladder of Love, many people may think an intimate relationship between two people can be as good or better than a Platonic relationship. I mean, many people may think an ideal form of a relationship, say, between two heterosexual people, could be one that include intimacy.
There could be different ways of looking at love, beauty and goodness other than the Ladder of Love model. So the Ladder of Love is more subjective. It can be true to some people and not so to others.
So one may argue that The Theory of Forms is a more generally applicable or objectively good idea than the Ladder of Love, which is more subjective.
If we're applying The Theory of Forms to evaluate the goodness of these two ideas, since we think the ideal good idea, or the Truth, is universal and timeless, then the Theory of Forms is closer to the Truth.
In my comment above, I conflated a physical relationship with a platonic relationship. A platonic relationship is a relationship between souls. I don't think Plato considers a platonic relationship necessarily would exclude physical relationships, unlike the modern meaning of platonic relationships.
DeleteI should have said above that "most reasonable people" or "philosophers" can use the theory of forms as a way of looking at things.
ReplyDeleteThe other area about the Ladder of Love idea that I am uncomfortable with is to put Beauty at the top rung. I can accept that physical love often involves beauty, but not always though. Also someone may be beautiful but nasty.
Furthermore, in the theory of forms, Plato put goodness at the top of the pyramid. So why would one put Beauty at the top of the ladder for the Ladder of Love instead of Goodness?
I would think beauty is superficial and temporal in nature and is only an indication of likely goodness. Beauty is not always good. So Beauty is not a necessary condition nor is it a sufficient condition for Goodness.
However, I accept some people may value Beauty as much as Goodness.
In the comment above, I conflated beauty in the physical world with Beauty in the Platonic world. In the ladder of love, Plato put Beauty in the Platonic world on the top rung of the ladder of love. The ladder of love is the pursuit of this absolute beauty and the ladder aids one reach the Good at the top of the pyramid in the world of forms.
DeleteAnother way of categorising love is the hierarchy, the types of love:
ReplyDeleteEros - sexual
Philia - deep friendship
Ludus - playful, flirty
Storge - family
Mania - obsessive love
Philautia - self-love but inclusive of compassion (self-recognition in the 'other')
Pragma - longstanding or committed purposeful
and
Agape - love for everyone - which I think is thought of as the Christian ideal.
Maybe parallels can be drawn with the ladder of beauty?
And the question might be asked "To what extent can love be equated with beauty?" Suely one can love something because it is NOT beautiful?
And to what extent do we rate either as 'good' or 'bad'; 'good' or evil'; better or worse?
This is quite beside the issue of fact or fiction; truth or lies, and to what extent each of these might be deemed to be objective or subjective and the whole questions of forms and of worlds.
marian