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Today’s Agenda
Beauty and Idealization
Good Morning!
Today we’ll be talking about beauty and idealization as they relate to the fragility of goodness through Plato’s Symposium. Burning that off, we’ll do the Beauty Check. Wrapping up with our Book Nook, we’ll look at a quote from Symposium.
Pull up your chair, Thought Breakfast is served!
Today’s Breakfast
Beauty Awakens Yearning
Beauty naturally stirs desire in the human heart. Whether it’s a romantic interest, a nice car, or a shiny rock (my favorite), we are drawn toward what appears noble, radiant, or complete. Plato saw beauty as awakening “movement” in the soul. He was right, because in many ways, beauty creates longing before thought can explain it.
The problem often begins when admiration turns into ownership. We often want to possess what first should simply be contemplated. And it extends beyond those examples into ideas, identities, and ideals themselves. The point is, desire often confuses appreciation with possession.
When we idealize something, we stop seeing it clearly. Let’s say it’s a person; the person becomes a symbol, a fantasy, a source of salvation, or even a projection of ourselves. Idealization can destroy real connection because it replaces the real with the imagined (see: Dostoyevsky’s White Nights as a perfect example). Also, what we idolize often collapses under the pressure of expectation.
Plato makes a deeper point with Diotima’s Ladder, a concept outlining the spiritual ascent from physical attraction to the contemplation of absolute beauty. Beauty points beyond the object itself. Real beauty is meant to elevate the soul beyond possession. Plato says it should lead us toward: truth, goodness, transcendence, and appreciation without control. Beauty, then, points beyond ownership.
Burn Those Thought Calories
The Beauty Check
Ask yourself:
What am I trying to possess that should simply be appreciated?
Where has admiration turned into unrealistic expectation?
What would change if I let beauty remain free?
Book Nook
“He who has been instructed thus far in the things of love… suddenly perceives a nature of wondrous beauty.” — Plato, Symposium
Beauty awakens longing. Longing turns the object of beauty into something to be possessed. Possession distorts admiration, because now we want something for ourselves, rather than appreciating its innate beauty for what it is. It turns into idealization, which replaces reality with a projection. Real beauty, then, points beyond ownership, to peaks higher than the mind can comprehend.
Munch on that for today. Have a great day, and come back tomorrow for another steaming hot plate of Thought Breakfast!
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That’s it for today.
Remember to stay mindful, smell the flowers, and take it easy.
Chef Ricky - Thought Breakfast
