What is the relationship between love, beauty and eternity, according to Socrates’ speech in the Symposium?

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August 7, 2017
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August 7, 2017
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What is the relationship between love, beauty and eternity, according to Socrates’ speech in the Symposium?

1. What is the problem of other minds? Explain why somebody like Kant can’t solve this problem. How does Sartre go about solving this problem?

2. Explain Parmenides’ view of being and existence. What is a problem with this view, and how is Aristotle’s view of substance as form and matter an improvement on Parmenides’ view?

3. What is the relationship between love, beauty and eternity, according to Socrates’ speech in the Symposium? How does this relationship explain the fact that many politicians strive to leave behind a good reputation or legacy that will endure long after they are dead?

4. Explain the role that freedom plays in Sartre’s view of love. If this view of love is correct, would it mean that we can never be in love with anybody for more than a short period of time? Explain why or why not.

5. Explain Descartes’ view of substance. How does this view lead to the mind-body interaction problem?

6. Explain Aristotle’s view of the four causes (aitia). How does this view explain change in the physical world? Why would Aristotle see Newton’s law of gravitation as something that is very alien and strange?

7. Explain St. Anselm’s ontological argument for the existence of God. Also explain one problem that this argument faces.

8. In the movie Hannah and Her Sisters, Mickey Sachs (Woody Allen) is a hypochondriac who tries to kill himself, but then realizes that what is important about life is not to understand its meaning, but to live it and enjoy it fully while it lasts. At the end of the movie, he falls in love with Holly, marries her, and she gets pregnant.

Does Mickey’s experience show us that love is merely a temporary distraction from the ultimate meaninglessness of life? Or does it show us that Plato is right, that love can be a way for mortal beings like us to achieve everlasting possession of the beautiful? Explain your answer, one way or the other.

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