Socrates, Eros and Magic - Professor Angie Hobbs, Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy (University of Sheffield)
Every year the Department of Philosophy hosts the prestigious Michael Lumsden Memorial Lecture. The annual event is in memory of Michael Lumsden, who graduated in Philosophy at Nottingham in 1993 and died shortly thereafter; it is the most important lecture in the department’s calendar. This year's lecture will be given by Professor Angie Hobbs, Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield. It will be hosted in the Trent Building's Great Hall at 3pm, on Tuesday 19 June 2018.
Abstract
At Symposium 203d Diotima claims that the daimon Eros is a clever magician and wizard, who philosophizes throughout his life. It is a startling assertion, as Plato is usually highly critical of magicians, and the puzzle deepens when we consider that in the Symposium Socrates is portrayed as a partial embodiment of Eros. Most commentators have either ignored the claim or tried to explain it away, but I argue that a deeper engagement with Plato’s views on magic shows that we should take it seriously. I define the magician as a being who or which effects a transformation which the audience cannot initially understand in any way. The key question is whether this transformation is only ever a deceptive conjuring trick, and I go on to argue that Plato thinks that, in rare but important cases, a magician can reveal, rather than concealing or disfiguring, the true nature of reality. The daimon Eros, as described by Diotima, is just such a being, and understanding how this is so will teach us much about the nature of both love and philosophy and their capacity to reveal the normally hidden connections that bind the entire cosmos into a whole.
Professor Angie Hobbs FRSA
Angie Hobbs gained a degree in Classics and a PhD in Ancient Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. After a Research Fellowship at Christ’s College, Cambridge, she moved to the Philosophy Department at the University of Warwick; in 2012 she was appointed Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield, a position created for her. Her chief interests are in ancient philosophy and literature, ethics and political theory, and she has published widely in these areas, including Plato and the Hero (C.U.P). She contributes regularly to radio and TV programmes and other media. She has spoken at the World Economic Forum at Davos, the Houses of Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and Westminster Abbey and been the guest on Desert Island Discs, Private Passions and Test Match Special.
She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Honorary Patron of the Philosophy Foundation and Patron of the Philosophy in Education Project. Outside academia, she has many interests, including the theatre, music, walking, swimming and many sports, especially cricket.
www.angiehobbs.com
Twitter: @drangiehobbs