Similarities and Differences

Question 1

Similarities Between Aristophanes and Catron

Answer 1

Desire for intimacy—love as a form of intimacy or connection;

Both are concerned with the longing for an intimate connection with another

Desire for understanding—seeing oneself reflected in the gaze of
another;

Catron describes her experiment as about “what it means to be known”
(Catron, 39)

The myth presents the ideal lover as one’s other half—literally a reflection
of oneself

Question 2

Differences Between Aristophanes and Catron

Answer 2

Catron: we can fall in love with (almost) anyone; love is something we can choose (choose to create)

Aristophanes: seems to suggest that love is something that happens to us and that only some people are our soulmates

Question 3

Similarities Between Aristotle and Nozick

Answer 3

• Eros can be possessive
• Both think that maintaining a
  relationship requires action and
  attention to the other person (beloved)
• Only room for 1 ideal relationship
• Love is a cumulative good

Question 4

Differences Between Aristotle and Nozick

Answer 4

• Eros not limited to infatuation (Nozick)
• Eros might be infatuation (Aristotle);
• Nozick’s account of romantic love is not
  philia; what makes the beloved worthy
  is nothing other than you loving them

Question 5

Similarities Between Pausanias and Aristotle

Answer 5

• Women are not worthy (cannot be as
  virtuous and achieve this highest form
  of love)
• Shared sense of values between
  individuals
• Self-improvement through another’s
  care and attention

Question 6

Differences Between Pausanias and Aristotle

Answer 6

• Eros (Pausanias) vs philia (Aristotle)
• Pausanias: love is not good or bad itself
  vs Aristotle: who believed it was
  dependent on the other person’s virtue
• Should be a relationship between
  equals (Aristotle), not like paederastia
  (Pausanias) which is not equal

Question 7

Similarities Between Conlon and Nozick

Answer 7

• relationships increasing in degrees of intimacy
• possessiveness
• lovers are a relationship distinct from friendship

Question 8

Differences Between Conlon and Nozick

Answer 8

Nozick: love is a cumulative good,
Conlon: intimacy is non-cumulative

Nozick: love is unconditional
Conlon: love is conditional

What Conlon describes as romantic love,
Nozick describes as infatuation

Question 9

Similarities Between Aristophanes and Nozick

Answer 9

• Monogamy most valued/ideal
• A form of completion (“we-identity”;
  and the rounders finding their other
  half/soulmate)
• unconditional love (not dependent on virtue)

Question 10

Differences Between Aristophanes and Nozick

Answer 10

• Nozick: heteronormative ideal
• Aristophanes: homonormative ideal

Question 11

Similarities Between Aristotle and Conlon

Answer 11

• view of erotic love as temporary
• view of erotic love as prone to jealousy

Question 12

Differences Between Aristotle and Conlon

Answer 12

• Aristotle would not agree with Conlon’s
  claim that there is a plurality of goods of
  intimacy (love)
• Aristotle says that a relationship is
  better to the extent that it can be
  characterized as philia