Intoxicated by Truth: Plato's Symposium with Alex Priou

About this episode

The episode explores the themes of love and truth in Plato's Symposium through a discussion with philosopher Alex Priou.

Socrates shows up late, looks like hell, and still somehow rules the room. What's really going in the Symposium? Plato uses a dinner party to show how authentic love is more intoxicating than alcohol. We explore the relationship between erotic desire and philosophy, and how philosophy is often a cold shower on our lesser temptations. We examine why talented poets like Aristophanes might be the fiercest skeptics of love, Alcalbiades’ dramatic interruption, and how Socrates’ uncompromising pursuit of truth brings admiration as well as danger. Perhaps the only desire strong enough to guide us well is the love of the good, no matter the cost. Other Life ✦ The coolest free newsletter in the world: https://otherlife.co ✦ The monthly PRINT edition: https://otherlife.co/upgrade ✦ My new book, The Independent Scholar: https://otherlife.co/scholar Alex Priou Alex Priou is a philosopher who works on Plato and Pre-Socratic thought. Alex is the author of three books on Plato: *Becoming Socrates: Political Philosophy in Plato’s Parmenides* (2018), *Defending Socrates: Political Philosophy Before the Tribunal of Science* (2023), and—the pretext for this converstaion—[*Musings on Plato’s…

People in this episode

Host: Justin Murphy

Guest: Alex Priou

Topics covered

• Plato's Symposium
• philosophy
• erotic desire
• love
• Socrates
• truth

Keywords

• Plato
• Socrates
• Symposium
• philosophy
• erotic desire
• love
• truth
• Alex Priou

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Musings on Plato’s Symposium, Becoming Socrates: Political Philosophy in Plato’s Parmenides, Defending Socrates: Political Philosophy Before the Tribunal of Science

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