Socrates and Diotima ─ Sexuality, Religion, and the Nature of Divinity

Since the beginnings of monotheism, religion has seemed to be at war with sexuality and with women. From the crusades of Hebrew prophets against the fertility deities of Canaan, to contemporary Catholic campaigns against contraception and homosexuality, to the suppression of women in Islam, Western religions have demonized both Eros and femininity. In Socrates and Diotima, Andrea Nye draws on the teaching of Socrates's priestly mentor in "matters of love" in the Symposium to recover the sacred Eros that constitutes in many pre-monotheist religious traditions a transcendent spark of immortality at the heart of mortal life. Stripping away centuries of Neo-Platonist and Christian commentary, she shows how that spiritual knowledge was lost and how it might be regained to re-vitalize ethical commitment, provide access to divinity, and offer non-credulous consolation in the face of death.

Andrea Nye is Professor Emerita of Philosophy and Religious Studies, and Women's Studies at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater, USA. Her previous books include Feminist Theory and the Philosophies of Man, The Princess and the Philosopher, and most recently Feminism and Modern Philosophy.