Definition of Love
I always believe that love is a powerful feeling that exists inside of human being. It is a desire, which desires something of which it is in need physically or emotionally. The quality of a desires change constantly as an individual needs vary. An individual is satisfied with one thing now; and that thing may not content the individual in the future because the desire or needs change as time passes by. When a person does not desire anything from another, I can say there is no love between them.
According to Agathon, love is the happiest of gods because he is most beautiful and the best. He is beautiful because he is the youngest of the gods as Phaedrus claims. Love was born to hate old age and will come nowhere near it (Plato, 32). He always avoids old age, and only associate with the young. All the horrible things in ancient time occurred because of Necessity and not love. Besides being young, Love is delicate. He doesn’t walk on anything hard instead of only on what is soft. When he encounters a soul with a harsh character, he turns away; but when he finds a soft and gentle character, he settles down in it (Plato, 33).
It seems Agathon agrees with my definition of love. When Agathon is seeing love as the most beautiful, the best and the youngest. He is likely speaking more about the desire behind general human being, which motivates people to purchase by using different ways. People like beauty, they make up or dress well to achieve that beauty that they want in their minds; to be the best, people do something with their strength in order to achieve the highest performance; and people pay attention to diet and maintain healthy life style to meet the youth that they think that it is best. No matter how Agathon describes love it is, whatever most beautiful, the best or the youngest. That is a desire that hiding inside the people to purchase or achieve an idea condition or situation. Love is something that means someone desires something.
Also Socrates agrees with how I define love in my own way. He explains that love is a desire. A man or anyone else who has a desire desires what is not at hand and not present, what he does not have, and what he is not and that of which he is in need ( Plato, 43). A lover just loves or desires what he needs and does not have. For instant, an ugly lover desires beauty or short lover needs tall. It is also to desire the preservation of what a lover has now and in the future. A lover with an advantage would like to keep that advantage for the rest of life, which Socrates proof that as a strong man could want to be strong or a healthy one could want to be healthy. Basically, love is to get something from other people or other thing to satisfy an individual needs.
Based on Socrates’ idea of love, love is a desire that is able to attract two people each other. If two people fall in love, each lover must desire something he or she needs from other such as physical comfort or emotional care. The desire of their personal needs builds the relationship. They desire more, their love is stronger and more intensive, and the relationship lasts longer. In case, two people no longer desire each other for something, it is believable that love between them no longer exists and the relationship is over probably. Love is desire, the desire do not exist of course love do not exist as well. It is what both Socrates and I agree with.
Diotima disagree with my idea of love. She states that love is the son of both poverty and plenty. He is always poor, hard, shriveled, shoeless, homeless and far from being delicate and beautiful. However, love also has designs on the beautiful and good, both of which the beloved has because what is really beautiful and graceful that deserves to be loved and this is perfect and highly blessed. Diotima insists that love is between wisdom and ignorance and not has to be either one thing or its opposite. No one else who is wise already loves wisdom; on the other hand, no one who is ignorant will love either or want to become wise (Plato, 49).
According to Diotima, there is no need or desire to have something beautiful or good or avoid something ugly and bad. People always satisfied with themselves even though they are neither beautiful and good nor wise. It does not make sense to most people including me. In reality, each person lives with his or her personal value and belief. I believe that if he is struggling with his life, he will make efforts to improve himself instead of maintaining current situation. And people with a good life will work hard to have a better life. Something like love that always stays in the middle of two extreme opposite situations, which could freeze our social improvements. It never happens. In fact, love should be desire that desire better outcomes.
