Plato's "Symposium"

Wilhoit’s Critical Reading Questions:

Who is the author? What possible biases might have influenced his work?

What are your beliefs about the issues addressed in Symposium? How open are you to opposing views on this topic?

What audience is Plato trying to reach? Who would be attracted to his writing? Who would be alienated by it? How does your understanding of audience influence your reading of Symposium?

What’s Plato’s purpose? What’s his thesis? How successful is he at reaching his goals?

How is Symposium organized? What gets stressed as a result of this organization?

How do you feel about the issues addressed in Symposium? What is convincing? What is unclear? What ideas contradict your understanding of the topic? What ideas here are new to you? Which do you accept or reject? Why do you think that is?

Discussion Questions Symposium:

How does Plato choose to set up his argument (pg 14)? What effect does this have for you as a reader?

Aristophanes’ speech is where we get our conception of the soulmate: what are the main points of the story he tells?

What is the problem the gods encounter after the initial split? What does Zeus do to remedy this problem (19)?

For Plato there is a clear hierarchy of sexual relationships/pairings, what is the hierarchy? What do you find most striking or interesting about this hierarchy?

What does Plato value male/male attraction? By extension what is it that love values (pg 20)?

How does Plato describe the sensation of falling in love? What it is then that love or desire, according to Plato really is?

In what ways do you see Plato’s conception of the soulmate informing the modern conception of the soulmate? In what ways do you feel the modern conception of the soulmate differs from Plato’s?

What premises about love does Socrates object to? Why does he object to them (21-23)?

What, according to Socrates’ speech, does love desire most? Why does he claim that love desires this (24)?

Socrates takes a pretty broad definition of pregnancy. What are his primary definitions of pregnancy? Within these various definitions, which is the best?

What is the process, according to Socrates, of falling in love? How does this differ from the definition Aristophanes provides? How are they similar? Which explanation do you find most compelling? Why?