Platonic love - wikipedia Platonic love This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. ( January 2014 ) Relationships Types Genetic Kinship Family Sibling Cousin By marriage Husband Wife Open marriage Polyandry Polygamy Polygyny Partner Partners Significant other Boyfriend Girlfriend Cohabitation Same - sex Life partner Friendship ( romantic ) Sexual Casual Monogamy Non-monogamy Polyamory Polyfidelity Cicisbeo Concubinage Courtesan Mistress Activities Bonding Courtship Dating Engagement Mating Meet market Romance Singles event Wedding Endings Breakup Separation Annulment Divorce Widowhood Emotions and feelings Affinity Attachment Intimacy Jealousy Limerence Love Platonic unconditional Passion Sexuality Practices Bride price dower dowry service Hypergamy Infidelity Sexual activity Transgression Repression Abuse Abusive relationship Child Dating Domestic Elderly Part of a series on Love Types of love Affection Bonding Broken heart Compassionate love Conjugal love Courtly love troubadours Falling in love Free love Friendship romantic Interpersonal relationship Intimacy Limerence Love addiction Love at first sight Love triangle Loving - kindness Lovesickness Lovestruck Obsessive love Passion Puppy love Relationship Self - love Amour de soi Unconditional love Unrequited love Cultural views Chinese Ren Greek words for love Agape Eros Philia Platonic Storge Xenia Indian Kama Bhakti Islamic Ishq Jewish Chesed Latin Amore Charity Romance Related Biological basis Love letter Valentine 's Day Philosophy Religious views Platonic love ( often lower - cased as platonic ) is a term used for a type of love that is non-sexual. It is named after Plato, though the philosopher never used the term himself. Platonic love is examined in Plato 's dialogue, the Symposium, which has as its topic the subject of love or Eros generally. It explains the possibilities of how the feeling of love began and how it has evolved -- both sexually and non-sexually. Of particular importance is the speech of Socrates, relating the idea of platonic love as attributed to the prophetess Diotima, which presents it as a means of ascent to contemplation of the divine. For Diotima, and for Plato generally, the most correct use of love of human beings is to direct one 's mind to love of divinity. In short, with genuine platonic love, the beautiful or lovely other person inspires the mind and the soul and directs one 's attention to spiritual things. Socrates, in Plato 's `` Symposium '', explained two types of love or Eros -- Vulgar Eros or earthly love and Divine Eros or divine love. Vulgar Eros is nothing but mere material attraction towards a beautiful body for physical pleasure and reproduction. Divine Eros begins the journey from physical attraction i.e. attraction towards beautiful form or body but transcends gradually to love for Supreme Beauty. This concept of Divine Eros is later transformed into the term Platonic love. In Middle Ages arose a new interest in Plato, his philosophy and his view of love. This was caused by Georgios Gemistos Plethon during the Councils of Ferrara and Firenze in 1438 - 1439. Later in 1469 Marsilio Ficino put forward a theory of neo-platonic love in which he defines love as a personal ability of an individual which guides their soul towards cosmic processes and lofty spiritual goals and heavenly ideas. ( De Amore, Les Belles Lettres, 2012. ) Though Plato 's discussions of love originally centred on relationships between members of the same sex, notes that the meaning of platonic love underwent a transformation during the Renaissance, leading to the contemporary sense of nonsexual heterosexual love. The English term dates back to William Davenant 's The Platonic Lovers ( performed in 1635 ) ; a critique of the philosophy of platonic love which was popular at Charles I 's court. It is derived from the concept in Plato 's Symposium of the love of the idea of good which lies at the root of all virtue and truth. For a brief period, Platonic love was a fashionable subject at the English royal court, especially in the circle around Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I. Platonic love was the theme of some of the courtly masques performed in the Caroline era -- though the fashion soon waned under pressures of social and political change. Contents 1 See also 2 Notes 3 References 4 External links See also Plato and his students Childhood sweetheart Greek love Infatuation Puppy love Crush Attraction Bromance Notes Jump up ^ `` 8.60 : When not to capitalize ''. The Chicago Manual of Style ( 16th ( electronic ) ed. ). Chicago University Press. 2010. Jump up ^ Reeser, T. ( 2015 ). Setting Plato Straight : Translating Platonic Sexuality in the Renaissance. Chicago. References Dall'Orto, Giovanni ( January 1989 ). `` ' Socratic Love ' as a Disguise for Same - Sex Love in the Italian Renaissance ''. Journal of Homosexuality. 16 ( 1 - 2 ) : 33 -- 66. doi : 10.1300 / J082v16n01_03. Gerard, Kent ; Hekma, Gert ( 1989 ). The Pursuit of Sodomy : Male Homosexuality in Renaissance and Enlightenment Europe. New York : Harrington Park Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 918393 - 49 - 4. K. Sharpe, Criticism and Compliment ( Cambridge, 1987 ), ch. 2. T. Reeser, Setting Plato Straight : Translating Platonic Sexuality in the Renaissance ( Chicago, 2015. ) External links Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Platonic Love. Plato on Friendship and Eros -- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Human sexuality and sexology Sexual relationship phenomena Asexuality Gray asexuality Bisexuality Casual relationship Casual sex Celibacy Celibacy syndrome Committed relationship Free love Herbivore men Heterosexuality Homosexuality Hypersexuality Marriage One - night stand Polyamory Promiscuity Female Romantic love Romantic orientation Flirting Sex life Sexual abstinence Sexual partner Single person Swinging Sexual dynamics Hypergamy Intersex Physical attractiveness Sexual attraction Sexual ethics See also Sexual addiction Sex Addicts Anonymous Sexual surrogate Plato Life Early life Platonism Platonic epistemology Platonic idealism Platonic realism Platonic love Neoplatonism and Gnosticism Platonism in the Renaissance Demiurge Theory of Forms Transcendentals Form of the Good Third man argument Euthyphro dilemma Five regimes Philosopher king Unwritten doctrines Cultural influence of Plato 's Republic Works Uncontested Apology Charmides Cratylus Critias Crito Euthydemus Euthyphro First Alcibiades Gorgias Hippias Major Hippias Minor Ion Laches Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 228 Laws Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 23 Lysis Menexenus Meno Parmenides Phaedo Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 229 Phaedrus Philebus Protagoras Republic Sophist Statesman Symposium Theaetetus Timaeus Of doubtful authenticity Axiochus Clitophon Definitions Demodocus Epigrams Epinomis Epistles Letter I Letter II Letter V Letter VII Letter IX Letter X Letter XII Eryxias Halcyon Hipparchus Minos On Justice On Virtue Rival Lovers Second Alcibiades Sisyphus Theages Allegories and metaphors Atlantis Ring of Gyges The Cave The Divided Line The Sun Ship of State Myth of Er The Chariot Allegorical interpretations of Plato Related Commentaries The Academy in Athens Socratic problem Middle Platonism Neoplatonism and Christianity Poitier Meets Plato List of speakers in Plato 's dialogues Plato 's Dream Family Ariston of Athens ( father ) Pyrilampes ( stepfather ) Perictione ( mother ) Adeimantus of Collytus ( brother ) Glaucon ( brother ) Potone ( sister ) Speusippus ( nephew ) GND : 4246264 - 2 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Platonic_love&oldid=807124026 '' Categories : Friendship Love Non-sexuality Philosophy of love Hidden categories : Articles lacking in - text citations from January 2014 All articles lacking in - text citations Articles containing French - language text Articles containing Chinese - language text Articles containing Ancient Greek - language text Articles containing Sanskrit - language text Articles containing Arabic - language text Articles containing Hebrew - language text Articles containing Latin - language text Use dmy dates from May 2011 Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Alemannisch বাংলা བོད ་ ཡིག Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Esperanto فارسی Français 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית ქართული მარგალური Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Polski Português Русский Simple English Slovenčina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska ไทย Türkçe Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 26 October 2017, at 01 : 44. 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Question: who is credited with having coined the term platonic love
Answer: William Davenant