When I write blog posts, I often find myself feeling like Socrates on page 144, "I'm going to keep my head wrapped up while I talk, that I may get through my discourse as quickly as possible and that I may not look at you and become embarrassed." I'm going to go ahead and utilize this tactic in my classes. If someone calls me out on it, I will simply reply, with my scarf round my head, "Socrates did it."
On a serious note, I continue to struggle with this idea of absolute truth. Not because I don't understand what it is, or how these men hope to explain its existence, but because it is so vastly different than my own opinion. As I read this portion of Phaedrus, I watched as Phaedrus became disgruntled with Socrates avoiding making his point (146, column 2). I became even more frustrated by the first column on page 147, when Socrates says, "If Love is, as indeed he is, a god or something divine, he can be nothing evil; but the two speeches just now said that he was evil." My head felt like somewhat of a tennis court. There appears to be a lot of ball lobbing and contradictions. Also, I get disgruntled by the masculine gender employed on the term "Love." But, that is another blog post.
To me, it appears that both Phaedrus and Socrates are juggling with this concept as well. They seem to be struggling to explain themselves, as Socrates says, "Phaedrus, a dreadful speech it was, a dreadful speech, the one you brought with you, and the one you made me speak," (147, column 1). I found myself thinking like Socrates again when he proclaims, "...because I am ashamed at the thought of this man and am afraid of Love himself," (147, column 2). I don't know what Love is, let alone an absolute love. I don't know what Truth is, let alone an absolute truth. Luckily, it doesn't seem that my buddies Phaedrus or Socrates have it figured out yet either.
I'm hoping that through the next section of Phaedrus, all of my philosophical questions will be answered. (*sarcasm) Though, a clear statement of the meaning of life would be quite nice...
Yet again, I would probably just struggle with that too.
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