ABSTRACT
Kierkegaard has his author Johannes de silentio subtitle Fear and Trembling “Dialectical Lyric.” As I hear it, this gives pride of place to lyric – which can be conducted dialectically. In Plato’s Symposium, when it comes to his turn to speak, Socrates begins with some dialectical forays and then delivers his lyrically enchanting tale of love that he’s heard from a priestess. Piety, poetry, and philosophy are artfully combined. And if we hear an undertone of violence in Alcibiades’ outburst toward the end of this otherwise quite civilized discussion, then we might find in the mix even a threat of politics (he’ll be known as something of a tyrant, after all).
