Seminar: "Understanding Eros" with Dr. Erik Dempsey

In this seminar, we will be exploring the meaning of Eros. Eros is a term used by the ancient Greeks for the sort of love we mean when we talk about falling in love, especially with one other person. It is the kind of love that human beings tend to feel most intensely, but for precisely that reason, it can be hard to integrate into a full, well-lived life.

We will look at Eros in both the classical and Christian tradition. We will try to understand what love is in itself, how it is connected to other goods in life, and why it is sometimes thought to be the best or most important good. We will also consider the relationship between love and marriage, and try to understand the ways in which love serves as a foundation for marriage, and the ways in which it needs support.

We will start with the classic text on Eros, Plato’s Symposium, and C.S. Lewis’ discussion of it in The Four Loves. In the second part of the seminar, we will explore a number of classic readings on courtly love and marriage.

Dr. Erik Dempsey is a lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, and assistant director of UT's Thomas Jefferson Center for the Study of Core Texts and Ideas. He is also a faculty fellow of the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America's Founding Principles and History, which sponsors the Constitution Day Initiative in support of the congressional mandate.