Page:The Dialogues of Plato v. 1.djvu/614

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Diotima's conversation 7vitli Socrates. 575 Love. The error in your conception of him was very natural, and as I imagine from what you say, has arisen out of a con- fusion of love and the beloved, which made you think that love was all beautiful. For the beloved is the truly beautiful, and delicate, and perfect, and blessed ; but the principle of love is of another nature, and is such as I have described.' I said : ' O thou stranger woman, thou sayest well ; but, assuming Love to be such as you say, what is the use of him to men ? ' ' That, Socrates,' she replied, ' I will attempt to unfold : of his nature and birth I have already spoken ; and you acknowledge that love is of the beautiful. But some one will say: Of the beautiful in what, Socrates and Diotima? — or rather let me put the question more clearly, and ask : When a man loves the beautiful, what does he desire ? ' 1 answered her 'That the beautiful maybe his.' 'Still,' she said, ' the answer suggests a further question : What is given by the possession of beauty? ' 'To what you have asked,' I replied, ' I have no answer ready.' ' Then,' she said, ' let me put the word "good" in the place of the beautiful, and repeat the question once more : If he who loves loves the good, what is it then that he loves ? ' ' The possession of the good,' I said. 'And what does he gain who possesses the good ? ' ' Happiness,' I replied ; ' there is less difficulty in answering that question.' 'Yes,' she said, 'the happy are made happy by the acquisition of good things. Nor is there any need to ask why a man desires happiness ; the answer is already final.' 'You are right,' I said. 'And is this wish and this desire common to all ? and do all men always desire their own good, or only some men ? — what say you ? ' ' All men,' I replied ; ' the desire is common to all.' ' Why, then,' she rejoined, 'are not all men, Socrates, said to love, but only some of them ? whereas you say that all men are always loving the same things.' 'I myself wonder,' I said, 'why this is.' 'There is nothing to wonder at,' she replied; 'the reason is that one part of love is separated off and receives the name of the whole, but the other parts have other names.' ' Give an illustration,' I said. She answered me as follows : ' There is poetry, which, as you know, is complex and mani- fold. All creation or passage of non-being into being is poetry or making, and the processes of all art are creative ; Sym- posium. SOCRATF.S. Love is of the beauti- ful, but in what ? Of the pos- session of the beauti- ful, which is also the possession of the good, which is happiness. Yet love is not com- monly used in this ge- neral sense.