Plato’s rational interpretation of love ignited a supra-rational enthusiasm.

Evidence

But because he did not see the true boundaries of logical reason, whose miraculous powers he had discovered, boundaries which it would take millenia to determine with certainty, he was led by this discovery to an intoxication unparalleled in the history of philosophy. Around the Apollonian clarity of cool thought danced the Dionysian joy of this unprecedented victory of the soul in becoming conscious of attaining the essence of things with its conceptual thinking. The birth of scientific thought, which was destined to suppress so much of religion, was greeted with religious consecration. The rational interpretation of love released a supra-rational enthusiasm which to us seems to radiate only from love itself—just because we honor it as a primordial phenomenon. That the most subjective and individual of all passions is led in the direction of rational-metaphysical meaning and that this meaning could be fully enthroned only by overcoming such a huge tension—therein lies the meaning of Eros for Plato’s world view. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 585

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the essay’s argument about how theory-making itself can serve as a defense against immediate experience — analogous to blasé attitude as rationalization of urban overload. — connects to: Modern love is irreducibly bound to a unique individual, unlike Plato’s — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 575; Platonic dualism naturally generated an ascetic morality that Christianity partially adopted — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 611; Combining passion and intellect drove the exceptional greatness of the Greeks — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 143 (+4 more)

Related

• Modern love is irreducibly bound to a unique individual, unlike Plato’s (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Immediate unhappiness combined with reflection generates metaphysical optimism about super-sensible worlds #expands (0.65) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1141
• Combining passion and intellect drove the exceptional greatness of the Greeks #exemplifies (0.60) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 143
• Enthusiasm etymologically means having a god enter the worshipper #expands (0.60) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 115
• Plato argues that real knowledge derives from concepts rather than sensory perception #exemplifies (0.55) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 674
• Platonic dualism naturally generated an ascetic morality that Christianity partially adopted #complicates (0.45) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 611
• Boethius embraced Platonic metaphysics and the privative theory of evil in his final work #corroborates (0.40) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1461