The logistical problems of everyday human life are often linked to the search for love and beauty. It's very difficult to actively pursue phenomena that we don't fully understand – unless, of course, you're Socrates. In Plato's Symposium, Socrates, in his account of a conversation with the priestess Diotima, attempts to define love and describes a clear, step-by-step method for fully appreciating love through the pursuit of beauty and knowledge. These stages of the search for beauty, a "ladder of love", are analyzed as a practice when Alcibiades, Socrates' potential lover, gives a speech both praising and criticizing the old philosopher and his way of life . Alcibiades' speech reveals the implications, both positive and negative, of materially following Socrates' teachings, as well as the ultimate impacts of the pursuit of beauty. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Socrates' speech is hardly ambiguous in detailing how a lover should engage with beauty. The speech, Socrates' account of a dialogue between him and Diotima (probably an invention of Socrates), first defines Love. Love is, for Diotima, a being between man and God, an intelligent child of resources and spirit who spends his time seeking truth and wisdom. Love is a brilliant orator, dresses crudely and walks barefoot, and is neither materially poor nor rich (203d). The parallels between Diotima's description of Love and Socrates himself are clear: Love is a philosopher seeking knowledge, just like Socrates; furthermore, Socrates is described earlier in the text generally barefoot and unclean (176a), and relies heavily on the hospitality of strangers, while avoiding severe poverty. Obviously, the Love described by Diotima is representative of the philosophers, and especially Socrates, so it follows that Diotima's pursuits of Love may also parallel those of Socrates. Living in harmony with love, Diotima continues, is the desire to be immortal, by means of “conception and birth in beauty” and knowledge of beauty (206e). The pursuit of knowledge of beauty is the fuel of love. The search for beauty is a very special process, known as the “ladder of love”. The process begins with a love of the physical, then rises to a love of science, and finally to a love of pure beauty (209a-211a). It is important to note the symptoms described by Diotima in connection with climbing the ladder. The lover is described as eager to share his love, at first in a sexual way, but ultimately in a relationship based solely on dialogue and the pursuit of knowledge (206e). Moreover, the lover who has reached the highest level of pursuit of beauty will lose all interest in mere physical beauty; they will transcend customs and conventional beauty and instead see beauty as a purer thing, examining the ways of beauty that they were previously obsessed with (211d). It is by observing beauty in this pure way that a lover can find happiness. These symptoms of seeking beauty manifest in a lover, so it is reasonable to assume that if “Diotima” wanted Love to be Socrates, he will also possess these symptoms. Next comes Alcibiades' drunken speech, an "ode" to the old philosopher. itself which essentially acts as a response to Socrates' love process. Alcibiades relates how, when he was a young and handsome man, he was seduced by the brilliant.