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The End of Patriarchy: Plato and Irigaray on Eros

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2011

Bernard N. Wills*
Affiliation:
Grenfell Campus of Memorial University

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In an article on Plato’s Symposium entitled “Sorcerer Love” Luce Irigaray attempts a retrieval of the teaching of Diotima of Mantinea on Eros. Finding a stark contrast between the two halves of Diotima’s speech in the Symposium she speculates that the doctrine of Eros contained in the first half of the speech may well represent the teaching of the historical Diotima on which the Platonic ‘metaphysics’ of the second half are super-imposed. While finding much to admire in Irigaray’s account, the author suggests that the two halves of the speech can be read as a unity and that Irigaray’s insights can be accommodated within Platonism.

RÉSUMÉ: Dans un article sur le Banquet de Platon, ayant pour titre «L’amour sorcier», Luce Irigaray tente de retrouver les enseignements de Diotime de Mantinée sur Éros. Trouvant un contraste fort entre les deux parties du discours de Diotime, elle spécule sur le fait que la doctrine d’Éros contenue dans la première partie du discours pourrait représenter les enseignements de la Diotime historique auxquels viendrait se superposer la «métaphysique» platonicienne dans la deuxième partie du discours. Tout en trouvant beaucoup à admirer dans le travail d’Irigaray, l’auteur suggère que les deux parties du discours peuvent être lues comme une unité, et que les idées développées par Irigaray peuvent être comprises au sein du platonisme.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Philosophical Association 2011

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References

Glazov-Corrigan, Kevin and Elena, 2004 Plato’s Dialectic at Play: Argument, Structure, and Myth in the Symposium. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
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