My First Philosophy Lesson

I have just started my first semester of school. A single mother of three going to college in her thirties is such a cliche, but here I am composing blogs and learning things I never cared to think about before. I choose 'Introduction to Ethics' not knowing what is was and I am still not claiming any kind of expertise on the subject. However, my other choice was psychology. I have been going to a psychiatrist, mental hospitals, and specialist since the age of thirteen. Therefore, I don't find psychology interesting. I figured I would try something I didn't know anything about. My first impression of the class was curiosity about why people would even care about what anyone had to say during the time before Jesus. How could anything a Greek multi-god worshiping person say or write about be relevant to today's' world? The only information I knew about Ancient Greece were from movies. According to Hollywood there was an abundance of half-naked, high testosterone, war-mongering men roaming from land to land pillaging and killing continuously. This what was presented to me by modern age version of the time. The instructor gave us Plato's "Symposium" to read for our first assignment. My attention was immediately captured. I had heard the names Plato and Socrates many times, I had no idea what social, political, and philosophical issues they addressed and the student/teacher relationship that they shared. I also assumed the reason I had heard of Socrates so much was because fabulous literature he had composed for us. I then learned Plato idolized Socrates and then became his voice. I found in my example that brilliance can be passed on without writing it yourself. Socrates is the man with all the answers. He picks about each speaker individually. He let's them know why their speech cannot possibly be true about love. He at times seems condescending of his present company. These were men of privileged society and well educated. Socrates was a man who did not bath on a regular basis, hair a mess, without shoes, wandering around pondering the meaning of everything and anything. The book speaks of times when Socrates is in such deep thought he abruptly stops and stares off into the abyss. The citizens around him accept these strange ways of thinking and then coming to conclusions. Next they wait with great anticipation for him to come back to reality and share with them what he has been pondering. They wait for this incredible conclusion, thirsty for knowledge and learning from this philosopher. Socrates then replies with "I know that I know nothing". What the hell? If a person stands thinking about something so precisely, so in depth for so long, I would a expect something a little deeper. Maybe deeper isn't the word because I do get the meaning of what he said. My expectations for someone that we have studied for centuries would have a little more profound. Socrates had bad hygiene, he spoke in what I like to call circle talk until he convinced his fellow citizens that they were wrong, and then they would agree with him. That's not persuasive, it's people easily giving up their arguments. He lured students in by using false pretenses on the whole homo-erotic student/teacher relationship. Then he would confuse the young boy by not allowing the boy to gratify him sexually and making him feel rejected. He posed as a different character for each person. He then convinced his following that he was the authority on everything and nothing by twisting words, and causing utter confusion. He seems to be a classic case of crazy. This is not unusual for an extremely bright person to be slightly insane. Socrates was not the first, and he will not be the last. Perhaps if wasn't this way to begin with Ethics wouldn't be what it is today. Back to the "Symposium", I found it ironic that Socrates who gave the most important speech of this male dominated drinking party was quoting a women in the majority of his speech. Women at this time were not exactly held in the highest regards. The men were even offended that Alcibiades brought in a female flute player to interrupt their male bonding. Women did not participate in most activities in this age. They were not revered as good enough to be educated as the men were. They were not involved in these "highly sophisticated" drinking parties. Yet, the answer all these men were looking for about love came from a the words of a woman. I hope continue to relate to this course and enjoy thinking outside the box.