Diotima's Dismissal : Sound Argument or Unwarranted Phallacy?

Abstract

In Plato's Symposium, Socrates gives a speech in which he reports what he learned about love from Diotima, a priestess from Mantinea. Although Plato consistently used real people in his dialogues, recent commentators tend to dismiss Diotima as a purely fictional character created by either Plato or Socrates. Today's philosophy canon is dominated by male authors. However, historical research continues to uncover work by female authors who were lost or forgotten. This study posed the question as to whether Diotima's fictional status is the result of evidence and sound argumentation or fallacious reasoning.