Beginning Socrates: Friendship

This past week I dedicated a lot of time towards narrowing the scope of my original work and beginning the first major reading assignment. Dr. Ruderman and I met and decided to begin with reading Plato's dialogue on friendship. Plato's writing is refreshing, as well as stimulating, because he avoids the dryness we have come to associate with philosophic discourse. Instead of the emphatic pronouncements of his Western imitators, Plato exhibits the relaxed suppleness of a mind unwilling to let itself be controlled by the current philosophical systems. The volume we are reading includes multiple dialogues that embody the essence of Plato's thoughts on friendship and love. Like most of his dialogues, the Lysis and the Phaedrus are named for the principal character involved in the discussion with Socrates. It is otherwise with our chief dialogue.

I'm looking forward to reading this dialogue and understanding the nature of human friendship and love.