The Symposium - with John Vervaeke & Jacob Howland
I sit down with John Vervaeke and Jacob Howland to discuss The Symposium, one of the great dialogues of Plato.
Professor Jacob Howland is Director of University of Austin, Texas' Intellectual Foundations program. Previously, Howland served as McFarlin Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tulsa and Senior Fellow at the Tikvah Fund. He is the author of five books and one edited book, including two on Plato’s Republic as well as studies of Kierkegaard and the Talmud. Howland’s articles have appeared in The New Criterion, City Journal, and The Nation, among others.
John Vervaeke: https://www.youtube.com/@johnvervaeke
Jacob Howland: https://www.jacobhowland.com/
- Jacob's book, Plato and the Talmud: https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Talmud-Jacob-Howland/dp/1107612691
- John Vervaeke's YouTube series, After Socrates: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLND1JCRq8Vuj6q5NP_fXjBzUT1p_qYSCC
- Event in Chino, California in May, titled, 'The Quest for a Spiritual Home': https://events.eventzilla.net/e/estuary-chino-2023-2138601197
- Plato's Dialogues, including The Symposium, are included in our The Symbolic World reading list. See here for more: https://thesymbolicworld.com/reading-list
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Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Coming up next
00:00:33 - Intro music
00:00:59 - Important announcement
00:02:23 - Introduction
00:03:35 - Aggression and sexuality - Aristophanes
00:06:41 - The Symposium
00:09:39 - Alcibiades
00:12:27 - Great accomplishment of Socrates
00:13:26 - Eros and the Christian ascetics
00:19:31 - Return to The Symposium: ascent and tragedy
00:23:41 - What makes the difference?
00:25:41 - Asceticism and seduction
00:29:08 - The longing of Alcibiades
00:33:44 - The Aristophanes myth
00:37:06 - Organic unity VS the Tower of Babel
00:40:04 - Natural polarity
00:42:58 - Custom
00:47:41 - The lover of wisdom
00:50:22 - The gift from God and the gadfly
00:54:35 - The ground of intelligibility
00:57:06 - The secret of asceticism
00:58:55 - The ladder of ascent
01:01:49 - Babel
01:05:18 - Engaged detachment
01:08:50 - Tragedy and comedy
01:12:46 - Where does this drive come from?
01:23:47 - The key difference
01:30:44 - The source
01:40:01 - Final remarks
01:41:50 - Event
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My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.
Apr 26, 2023
November 7, 2023