Reason, Passion and Desire

Angel 2022-12-21 19:51:27

In the Republic, Plato divides the soul into three forms/parts of desire, passion and reason. Reason controls thoughts and actions, passion controls rational emotions, and desire controls the physiological instinct to seek pleasure and avoid suffering. But he also said that all three can be understood from the perspective of desire. "Desire in the broad sense is that each of the three parts of the soul has." Rational desire is the pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty and the desire for knowledge ( Love of wisdom), the desire of passion is the pursuit of fame and fortune, and the desire of desire is vulgar carnal and materialistic desires. At the same time, passion is the mediator, and inferior desires either obey reason and become virtue, or deviate from reason and become evil.

Rohmer's "Six Moral Stories" series can actually be explained by Plato's desire-passion-reason model. These films use love as a medium to present the tension between morality and desire, reason and passion in middle-class groups.

Just like the series finale "Afternoon Love", Frederick wanders between the red rose (Chloe) and the white rose (Helena), one step forward is beaten by morality, and the last step is unbearably infested by desire .

Therefore, Frederick, who was in a dilemma, faced Chloe's body in the last scene of the film, only to end up in a panic and flee.

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Extended Reading

Love in the Afternoon quotes

  • Frédéric: [voice over] I love the city. The suburbs and provinces depress me. Despite the crush and the noise, I never tire of plunging into the crowd. I love the crowd as I love the sea. Not to be engulfed or lost in it, but to sail on it like a solitary pirate, content to be carried by the current, yet strike out on my own the moment it breaks or dissipates. Like the sea, a crowd is invigorating to my wandering mind. Almost all my ideas come to me in the street.

  • Frédéric: I like seeing the streets full of people. That's the charm of Paris. Nothing's worse than afternoons in the suburbs. I can't tell you how depressed I get.

    The Colleague: Really? You dread afternoons too? Even in Paris, I don't feel quite right until 4:00.