Phaedrus's Second Speech
Phaedrus: The Three Speeches
First Speech The first speech we come across in Plato’s Phaedrus is that of Lysias which is read by Phaedrus. In his speech, which starts at Stefanus 231a, Lysias argues that a person should reject the advances of a lover and accept those of a non-lover. His reasons are that lovers are ‘sick’ and irrational (231d) and are often jealous and chaotic (232c&d). Once love is absent, the relationship can be treated as a transaction of sorts where the non-lover gets sexual pleasure and the beloved becomes a better person (233a). Second Speech In the second speech, Socrates is the one speaking. He starts out by weaving a story of a young man who has a cunning lover that deceives the young man into thinking that his lover does not love him (237b). He decides to first define the meaning of love. ‘Love is a form of desire’ (237d) but both the lover and non-lover engage in desire so there must be a dividing factor. There are two forces which rule and guide men: an “inborn desire for pleasures” and an “acquired judgment that pursues what is best” (237d). These forces interact with each other and when desire is in control, it leads to excess and when the judgement is in control, it leads to moderation (237e&238a).
The lover has an excessive desire for beauty and this is what makes him mad, …show more content…
He claims that the two prior speeches are incorrect because madness is not always bad therefore the lover is not bad simply because he is mad (244a). He claims that madness can be a gift from the gods and gives examples of good types of madness: madness from prophetesses and priestesses who guide people (244b&c), madness of people who take refuge in prayers and serving gods in order to find relief from their afflictions (244e), madness from the Muses which arouses and fills the soul with a Dionysiac frenzy to make poetry and songs (245a) and Love, which he attempts to
First Speech The first speech we come across in Plato’s Phaedrus is that of Lysias which is read by Phaedrus. In his speech, which starts at Stefanus 231a, Lysias argues that a person should reject the advances of a lover and accept those of a non-lover. His reasons are that lovers are ‘sick’ and irrational (231d) and are often jealous and chaotic (232c&d). Once love is absent, the relationship can be treated as a transaction of sorts where the non-lover gets sexual pleasure and the beloved becomes a better person (233a). Second Speech In the second speech, Socrates is the one speaking. He starts out by weaving a story of a young man who has a cunning lover that deceives the young man into thinking that his lover does not love him (237b). He decides to first define the meaning of love. ‘Love is a form of desire’ (237d) but both the lover and non-lover engage in desire so there must be a dividing factor. There are two forces which rule and guide men: an “inborn desire for pleasures” and an “acquired judgment that pursues what is best” (237d). These forces interact with each other and when desire is in control, it leads to excess and when the judgement is in control, it leads to moderation (237e&238a).
The lover has an excessive desire for beauty and this is what makes him mad, …show more content…
He claims that the two prior speeches are incorrect because madness is not always bad therefore the lover is not bad simply because he is mad (244a). He claims that madness can be a gift from the gods and gives examples of good types of madness: madness from prophetesses and priestesses who guide people (244b&c), madness of people who take refuge in prayers and serving gods in order to find relief from their afflictions (244e), madness from the Muses which arouses and fills the soul with a Dionysiac frenzy to make poetry and songs (245a) and Love, which he attempts to