Session 05—Fri, Jan 27: Western Frameworks: Greek views (Plato and Aristotle), early Christianity, pagan positions (Moorish threads), individual rights (Magna Carta)

Topics for this session

❖ Socrates / Plato: desire for truth & role of will in the moral life (based on Symposium and Phaedrus) [5th-4th c. BCE., Greece]
❖ Aristotle's Four Types of Love (as presented by Isaac Singer in The Nature of Love) [4th c. BCE, Greece]
❖ Basic Christian principles
❖ Passion (in Christianity—typical and mystics [our example is 16th c. Spain] and troubadours [our example is 12th c. France], compared to East Asian thought systems that honor the golden mean, Moorish and flamenco pagan positions [our example is modern])
❖ Individual rights: the Magna Carta [13th c. England]

Thoughts*

Extra credit offer — Find out about Aristotle's four types of love (agape, nomos, filia and eros) and list those in a left-hand column, then list the primary ethical values of Confucianism in a right-hand column (ren, xiao) etc. then, in the middle, compare/contrast the two sets as you think is appropriate—all on a one-page PDF that can be projected and so discussed.

I argue that love in the West is primarily situated within a sacred discourse coming out of European Christendom. We look at Plato and Aristotle as the original philosophical positions for Christian discourse

Aristotle's four types of love and my thoughts on them, based in part on Isaac Singer's The Nature of Love:

eros (attraction)

Sexual attraction. In Plato’s schema this is the lowest form of desire though desire in and of itself is not wrong. Men seek the good and that seeking is marked by desire. Desire, though the growth of character, is redirected from sexual passion to a passion for truth (philosophy). In Plato’s sex between a man and woman was not quite at the level of intimate relations between educated men. (See below.) Eros is placed front and center by Freud. And it remains highly valued now. However, it was somewhat marginal in Plato’s world … and this is closer to East Asian premodern views of love.

philia (friendship)

Brotherly love. Friendship. Intimate relationship between man. Despite our common phrase “Platonic love” there was no such thing between the sexes. There were brotherhoods. However, that there can be non-sexual intimate relationships, truly warm ones, is fully endorsed by us.

agape (love thy neighbor as thyself)

Compassion, that is, gifting love to another. This becomes the model of Christian love and is still taken, I think, as the highest expression of “true” love: sacrificing for another. However, devoting oneself to another blends with this, see below.

nomos (law, submission)

This is not fundamentally a romantic value in Plato’s world. It is about law and society. However, I find it interesting that there can be a crossover between submission to the law, to authority, and romantic submission / domination, including devotion. “True love” in the West is probably a blend of willingness to sacrifice oneself for another and commitment/devotion to another.

Troubadours" (medieval Europe) who sung in praise of women, among other things. Mention less for them as a group — though they are very interesting — but rather for the cultural notion of "putting a woman on a pedestal".

Introduced a Western cultural romantic value that is fairly widespread but not historically a part of Christendom: macho. I speak briefly about "macho" traits and Flamenco dance that is formulated within those notions of hyper-masculine identity and bluster. I mention the proscription that women are to support their errant husbands through nurturing and forgiveness in the image of the Virgin Mary. This is an interesting coupling of non-Christian values for the men and Christian values for the women. We consider the "bad" woman presenting within the stereotype of the gypsy (non-Christian) seductress, endowed with a passion and self-love similar to the macho male figure. In this context we listen to the masculine display (and celebration of those values) in the aria from Bizet's "Carmen" (synopsis, lyrics and a note about "black eye") commonly titled "Toreador's Song". We then look at the traits as interpreted within Flamenco and film in Carlos Saura's 1983 "Carmen" (primary dancer is Antonio Gades, very famous for his flamenco). The original "Carmen" is a novella by Prosper Mérimée (19th c. French writer), 1845.

Required—to be completed for today's session

✓ Nothing yet announced.

Texts, multimedia notes, links*

Plato's argument regarding the good-beauty-truth is pervasive in his works; for the chariot allegory see Phaedrus (sections 246a - 254) The notion of "soul mates" also comes from Plato (The Symposium, Arestophanes dialog).

Aristotle — eros, philia, agape, nomos. For a good discussion of Aristotle's view of love (eros, philia, agape, nomos) see Isaac Singer, The Nature of Love (vol. 1). This is an excellent three volume set that will be useful to some of you. (Students are required, for their paper, to use at least one strong academic source on the topic of love.) Another "classic" on Western love, despite its shortcomings, is Denis de Rougement's Love in the Western World.

Christian mystic discussed: Theresa of Avila (16th c. Spanish nun)

Troubadour cantos by Bernart de Ventadorn (fl. 1145-1175) of southern France, titled "Can par la flors josta.l vert folh" (When flowers are in the leaves green) with recording excerpt from "Amor de Lonh — The Distant Love of the Troubadours" (Nimbus Records, 2000)

Other*

nothing yet ...

*THOUGHTS: Reading before class probably helps follow session content, reading afterwards might help consolidate notes, revisiting for tests is recommended. Content might be added before class or anytime up until about 24 hours ahead of a midterm.

*TEXTS, MULTIMEDIA NOTES, LINKS: If I have read from something, shown something or presented audio that is not elsewhere mentioned, I usually include that information here for the curious, sometime after the class (since I often make last-minute decisions about including something). It might take a while and sometimes I forget. You can email me.

*OTHER: When possible I note here names, places, and other details that I have mentioned in a lecture that would otherwise not be accessible in the assigned materials or easily located on your own. As with "TEXTS ..." this is usually sometime after class and, again, I might not be able to get around to doing it.