Transcending the Self and Daemonic Philosophers in Plato’s Symposium

Plato’s Symposium (2001) consists of seven speeches in praise of eros — the god of love, the shared human experiences of zeal and longing, and the avid pursuit of philosophy. Among seven eulogists in the Symposium , Socrates stands out for delivering not only the most layered and complex but also the most complete account of eros. This paper traces Socrates’ teaching on eros and its final ascent with an eye to the succeeding pedagogical steps. In particular, this paper examines three significant instances of disclosure and concealment in Socrates’ speech. First, Socrates twice submerges and re-emerges the beautiful ( kalon ), situating eros in the tension between the beautiful and the good ( agathon ). Second, Socrates’ characterization of eros as daemonic and “in-between” presents eros as opaque and casts it as a mediator between the veiled and the unveiled. Last, Socrates’ overemphasis on the self and its longing for immortality enshrouds the potentiality of self-transcendence