Plato and the love of learning

Ethics and Education 1 (2):117-131 (2006)
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Abstract

This paper explores the relation between love, learning and knowledge as found in three dialogues of Plato, Symposium, Phaedrus and Republic. It argues that the account of the ascent from carnal desire to the love of beauty, as set out in the Symposium, is best seen in terms of a genealogy of love in which the object of love is transformed into an object of knowledge. The Phaedrus shows us how affection and love between two individuals can help motivate a love of learning. The Republic demonstrates the value of knowledge through the distinction between knowledge and opinion. A love of learning is, therefore, driven by that which is genuinely valuable and worthy of love. Plato helps us today in two respects: first, he reminds us that learning can have an affective quality. Second, he reminds that the value of learning is related to the knowledge and insight it yields.

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Geoff Hinchliffe
University of East Anglia

Citations of this work

Education's Love Triangle.David Aldridge - 2019 - Journal of Philosophy of Education 53 (3):531-546.
Luce Irigaray: A philosophy of teaching in ancient and modern perspective.Richard White - 2022 - Journal of Philosophy of Education 56 (2):251-264.
Platonic character education.Avi I. Mintz - 2023 - Journal of Philosophy of Education 57 (3):708-723.

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References found in this work

Philosophy and social hope.Richard Rorty - 1999 - New York: Penguin Books.
The Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle - 1951 - Revue Philosophique de la France Et de l'Etranger 143:477-478.
The Fragility of Goodness.Martha Nussbaum - 1986 - Journal of Philosophy 85 (7):376-383.
Plato's ethics.Terence Irwin - 1995 - New York: Oxford University Press.

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