CONCLUSION 



The first published account of a symposium we owe to Plato who, in the year 

 380 B.C., wrote the famous Symposion, that masterful poetic dialog which 

 has influenced occidental culture as few other writings ever have. The term 

 'symposion' actually means 'drinking party'. Plato's symposion took place 

 in the house of the Athenian Agathon whose circle of friends included 

 Sokrates. The classical — and modern — idea of a symposium was born when 

 Pausanias suggested abstaining for once from compulsory heavy drinking 

 and passing the night with talks on a particular topic, drinking only whenever 

 one felt like doing so. Plato tells us that the friends agreed to this happily 

 since they were still suffering from the after-effects of their drinking bout of 

 the previous night. Following the suggestion of Eryximachos, the theme of this 

 first published symposium was to present laudations to the god Eros. The 

 climax of Plato's symposion is the speech of the visionary Diotima who 

 convinces Sokrates that the cognition of beauty means the recognition of 

 truth through which one acquires the true virtue and immortality. 



What would Plato think had he observed this, our Symposium on nervous 

 inhibition? Surely he would be amazed: the duration of this symposium 

 alone would seem incredible to him — would he not be aware that the drinking 

 was confined altogether to a few hours? Truly astonishing, however, he would 

 find the theme of our discussions and arguments: to emphasize and restrict 

 speeches and discussions to concepts of inhibition must surely be disturbing 

 to the mind that dreams of the absolute harmony of all being. I think it is 

 fitting to conclude this Symposium by reassuring the spirit of Plato that we 

 are mindful of the fact that nervous inhibition is only the counterpart of the 

 equally important phenomenon of nervous excitation, and by reminding him 

 that it was our conviction of a universal harmony that prompted us to balance 

 the common emphasis on excitatory processes by giving more weight to the 

 discussion and understanding of inhibition. 



Let us hope that one day there will be a truly beautiful symposium where 

 nervous inhibition and nervous excitation will form a theme worthy of the 

 great master. 



E. F. 



459 



