Toulmin Analysis And An Addition To The Symposium

Katie Valentine Professor Seth Martin English 102 5 March 2024 Toulmin Analysis and an Addition to the Symposium The Symposium written by Plato is a collection of many speeches given on love. The speech given by Aristophanes was the one I was most interested in and curious about. His speech was distinctly different from the others, and it created a comedic yet still serious claim while looking at the history of love, creating a comedic yet still serious masterpiece. The Toulmin method helped in analyzing Aristophanes' speech and when writing a speech of my own on the same topic. We will discuss how love is the foundation of faith and the core of mankind. As I read through Aristophanes’ speech, I easily picked out numerous elements of the Toulmin method. The first of these

I believe that love is the foundation of faith and the core of human nature. The Bible is the basis of my argument. Our relationships and actions towards others are all guided by love. Reasoning for this is found in the truth of the scriptures. Throughout the Bible, love is portrayed as a key theme, giving emphasis on its power to heal, connect, transform, and influence mankind. Love is the highest virtue demonstrated by both Jesus Christ’s and God’s example to humans in both the Old and New Testaments. Shown to us by Bible verses is a justification for the belief in the heavenly idea of love. For us believers, the Bible is our travel guide; it shares insight, guidance, and wisdom. It was given to us to follow, and it includes instructions on how to love others. To stress how important love is, we can take a look at the 10 commandments that were given to Moses and recorded in Matthew. Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (English Standard Version, Matt.