Philosophy of Love and Sex
Question 1
What do you think of Diotima’s notion of the ladder of love that Socrates reiterates in “The Symposium”, Plato’s dialogue. Do you agree that love today progresses the way she suggests it does? Do you agree the highest form of love is the love of truth, of reality for most of us today? Agree or disagree giving examples.
Diotima’s idea of love is similar to platonic love. This kind of love was echoed and supported by Socrates. This is the kind of love that is not conveyed through sexual intercourse or relationship. The ladder has six stages that include a specific beautiful body, all beautiful bodies, beautiful souls, beautiful laws and institutions, the beauty of knowledge, and beauty itself. Those who look at the beauty itself helps uphold virtues and help them not to be seduced by any form of physical attraction.
Love today does not progress the way Diotima suggested. In fact, the ladder has been overturned. Most people view love in the form of beautiful bodies that can be able to offer them sexual satisfaction. Hedges, C. (2015), suggest that women are exploited by men through prostitution and then abandoned after they have been used. Further, most of the people have no love for the beauty itself but for the money that comes with it. Some have joined pornography industry to be wealthy, affluent, powerful and renowned as celebrities.
I disagree. The highest form of love is not the love of truth. Most people are blinded to the worldly pleasure and have no respect for the truth. There are various types of sexual sins including masturbation, prostitution, same-sex marriages that have been prohibited in religious books such as the Bible but continue to be widely practiced.
Question 2
Is Aristotle correct in identifying the highest type of love friendship of the self-sacrificing type? Is this possible for most people today? Why or why not? How does his understanding of self-love support his promotion of friendly love?
Aristotle was correct in recognizing the highest form of love friendship as that of self-sacrificing. This love is also known as agape love in Greek. The love friendship that is sacrificing transcends all other types of love. This kind of love is not just a response to affection and it does not require the other individual to love you in return. The self-sacrifice demands that a person assist the other individual to be the best of they can ever be.
This type of love friendship is not possible for most people today. It is self-demanding as it requires the individual to understand the needs of their loved ones. Further, it necessitates the person to set aside their personal needs and instead bring joy to those who they commit their life and heart.
Aristotle key concept in his daily life was eudaimonia that meant living in accord with the virtues. He placed friendship as the core virtue of living well. Aristotle considered friends as a critical element for the attainment of a virtuous life, morality, and happiness. The understanding of this concept helped him promote friendly love by supporting unity and ensuring that the social fabric is enhanced.
Question 3
Given the social and political context for love, friendship and sexuality–as the one outlined by my lecture on Marx and “The Corporation Part One”, how are our relationships impacted? How do, for example, commodity fetishism, corporate exploitation of human health, the environment, economic inequality etc influence our intimate relationships? You might want to pick 3 specific claims made by the
The corporations are established to make cash regardless of the outcome and how they affect the globe socially and politically. In the milieu of love, sexuality, and friendship, the relationship is greatly impacted. Pornography is an example of corporations that are out to make cash. There is neither love nor friendship as women are violently penetrated in their private parts. This causes them to suffer from sexual ailments and they are faced with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Marx opposed the commodity fetishism. This involved emphasis on money and commodities as opposed to the social relationship between people. This in the context of our study is attributed by prostitution where people have a sexual relationship because of money without having a friendship bond. There is corporate abuse of human health where people without their consent are paid so that the sexual offenders can abuse them sexually. Chris Hedges says that there are women who are penetrated by several men leading to health ailments that necessitate them to have a vagina or anal surgery to reconstruct the destroyed parts.
The three points include industrialized culture, social prestige, and social alienation. I agree with Marx on industrialized culture where the consumer has little control over the product they produce. In the porn industry, the players have less control of what will happen to them. I disagree with Marx on social prestige. Most people are not forced into prostitution or pornography for wanting to belong to the social class but due to poverty and other factors. I agree on social alienation. The television, internet, and technology is making the social vices to get its way in the fabrics of the society.
References
Hedges, C. (Feb 15, 2015). Pornography Is What The End of the World Looks Like. Retrieved from.https://www.truthdig.com/report/item/pornography_is_what_the_end_of_the_world_looks_like_20150215
Related:Chris Hedges on pornography and prostitution articles
