Philosophical Synthesis of Plato’s Symposium; and Romesen & Verden-Zoller’s The Biology of Love from the Ridiculous, the Sublime to Human Development

Abstract

Every genuine action and every great development in human history stem from the biology of human love. Indeed, the world and everything in it revolves around and upon the hinges and instrumentalities of “Love.” This is brought to the fore by the demands of standard moral conduct, by leading social and philosophical ideologies. More than that, Christianity and all the major religions of the world build upon “love.” For example, in the Holy Bible, Matthew 19: 19 and Mark 12: 31 both pronounce on this fundamental concept, which St. Thomas Aquinas describes as “appetible object . . . a passion . . . in the concupiscible faculty” of man. The primary demand of love is – “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” In Christianity, this mandate is so basic and touches upon every other thing, why in Matthew 5: 44, Jesus Christ added that, “But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.” This can only be because “Love” lies at the foundation of all great development in human history – everything we do, the good, the bad, the ugly and the insane, the wicked, evil and the beautiful. It shows up also whether in a “system of natural law which was built by the human mind,” or as willed by placed by faith and religion. I will collapse the requirements of the hermeneutics theory onto an analysis of this topic, describe, ascribe and allude to love’s characteristics as the core factor in human progression, and prove that Plato’s Symposium is one such book that demonstrates this from the ridiculous to the sublime. We will end by affirming that love’s an “Uncanny goodness that cannot be heaved into the mouth, (that) can grant calm and sobriety even in the midst of sheer insanity” having the singular amplitude to cover multitudes of sins, and to reach and conquer all men at every end of the spectrum of life.