Most recent public comments by Andrew Leslie https://nowcomment.com/users/1122 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3183?scroll_to=8583 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3183?scroll_to=8583 I find your conclusion disappointing, not b/c I want you to love the symposium, but b/c you have missed much of what is interesting. People care about Socrates story of the Ladder of Love b/c it is a humanistic vision of love broadening out beyond interpersonal relationships or conventional notions to embrace big things: ideas, discourse, life-work, wisdom - but including those people you love, whom you want to bring with you in appreciation of these things. It has been interpreted as a defense of liberal arts education - it's what we do here. I don't see where you can go for a revision of this paper. You have trapped yourself in nihilism; perhaps you want to argue that love and life are all an illusion, that such idealism is useless? You could try that - Nietzche did. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3183?scroll_to=8582 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3183?scroll_to=8582 Aristophanes relates a ridiculous myth, it's true, but he also has a deeper point which, in your flippancy, you overlook. The idea that love is searching for one's perfect match is very romantic, no? And tragic. Odd, such a tragic vision coming from a comic poet? Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3183?scroll_to=8580 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3183?scroll_to=8580 There has been a lot of speculation about A's hiccups, but I've never heard this one. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3183?scroll_to=8579 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3183?scroll_to=8579 Eryximachus strikes me as being like a self-help guru: "Seven Ways that Love Can Give You a Longer, Healthier Life" - available in book stores everywhere. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3183?scroll_to=8578 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3183?scroll_to=8578 He also says that love can be good or bad, depending... on what? On the age of the boy, on the intentions of the lover... Remember he is a lawyer. He starts with a definition but essentially every case is independent - just as a lawyer argues. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3183?scroll_to=8576 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3183?scroll_to=8576 Isn't Phaedrus saying that love is a good thing for society b/c it makes men braver and better in public? A pretty conventional perspective. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2808?scroll_to=6177 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2808?scroll_to=6177 The introduction of capitalism in your last line only serves to confuse your audience. If you want to develop this connection (which needs explanation), you should address it earlier in the essay. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:50 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2808?scroll_to=6176 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2808?scroll_to=6176 This is a good criticism, I think. Perhaps the basis for your revision? Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:50 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2808?scroll_to=6175 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2808?scroll_to=6175 I am very happy you raised this issue - yours is the first essay I've read to do so. G's style may appear ridiculous to you, but he saw it as his signature achievement. His ideal of rhetoric is one which not only has plausible arguments but also sounds/reads well. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:50 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2808?scroll_to=6174 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2808?scroll_to=6174 G does assert that language can cause suffering. Is he then asserting that Helen was persuaded by being made to suffer, or is the example of poetry simply an illustration of the power of speech generally, not specific to Helen? Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:50 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2808?scroll_to=6173 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2808?scroll_to=6173 Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:50 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2765?scroll_to=6153 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2765?scroll_to=6153 The ending seems to contradict much of what went before, doesn't it? How seriously should we take Gorgias' claims in light of the ironic ending? Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:50 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2765?scroll_to=6152 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2765?scroll_to=6152 Don't trust spell check. On a more substantive level, I'm not sure what you mean about the difference b/n a victim and a subject. This is an interesting notion and could be the basis for your revision. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:50 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2765?scroll_to=6151 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2765?scroll_to=6151 Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:50 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2765?scroll_to=6150 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2765?scroll_to=6150 Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:50 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2765?scroll_to=6149 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2765?scroll_to=6149 It would be more accurate to say that these are commonly shared beliefs among the Greeks. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:50 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2765?scroll_to=6148 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2765?scroll_to=6148 I like your succinct and clear introduction. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:44:50 -0400