Plato and Sex

What does the study of Plato’s dialogues tell us about the modern meaning of ‘sex’? How can recent developments in the philosophy of sex and gender help us read these ancient texts anew? Plato and Sex addresses these questions for the first time. Each chapter demonstrates how the modern reception of Plato’s works Ð in both mainstream and feminist philosophy and psychoanalytical theory Ð has presupposed a ‘natural-biological’ conception of what sex might mean. Through a critical comparison between our current understanding of sex and Plato’s notion of genos, Plato and Sex puts this presupposition into question. With its groundbreaking interpretations of the Republic, the Symposium and the Timaeus, this book opens up a new approach to sex as a philosophical concept. Including critical readings of the theories of sex and sexuation in Freud and Lacan, and relating such theories to Plato’s writings, Plato and Sex both questions our assumptions about sex and explains how those assumptions have coloured our understanding of Plato. What results is not only an original reading of some of the most prominent aspects of Plato’s philosophy, but a new attempt to think through the meaning of sex today.

Acknowledgements vi Introduction 1 1 Sex and Genos (Republic) 11 2 The Origin of Sex: Aristophanes, Freud and Lacan (Symposium) 41 3 ‘Eros’ and ‘Sexuality’, Plato and Freud (Symposium) 71 4 ‘I, a Man, am Pregnant and Give Birth’ (Symposium) 98 5 Of Gods and Men: The Natural Beginning of Sex (Timaeus) 128 Coda: The Idea of ‘Sex’ 157 Notes 166 Bibliography 198 Index 207