Plato's erotic world : from cosmic origins to human death / Jill Gordon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gordon, Jill, 1962- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Plato.

Love.

Erotica--Philosophy.

Erotica.

Philosophy, Ancient.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 243 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Plato's entire fictive world is permeated with philosophical concern for Eros, well beyond the so-called erotic dialogues. Several metaphysical, epistemological and cosmological conversations - Timaeus, Cratylus, Parmenides, Theaetetus and Phaedo - demonstrate that Eros lies at the root of the human condition and that properly guided Eros is the essence of a life well lived. This book presents a holistic vision of Eros, beginning with the presence of Eros at the origin of the cosmos and the human soul, surveying four types of human self-cultivation aimed at good guidance of Eros and concluding with human death as a return to our origins. The book challenges conventional wisdom regarding the 'erotic dialogues' and demonstrates that Plato's world is erotic from beginning to end: the human soul is primordially erotic and the well-cultivated erotic soul can best remember and return to its origins, its lifelong erotic desire.

Contents:

Cosmos

Questioning

Courage

Matchmaking

Self-knowledge

Memory.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-283-57479-9

1-139-52749-5

9786613887245

1-139-53215-4

1-139-52868-8

1-139-16226-8

1-139-52629-4

1-139-53096-8

OCLC:

808366437