βούλομαι...καὶ ἐπιθυμῶ. The point here
emphasized is that βούλησις and ἐπιθυμία, when their sense is investigated, are found to apply only to
the future (εἰς τὸν ἔπειτα χρόνον), not to the
present (ἐν τῷ παρόντι). For investigation shows
that “I wish for what I have” is really an abbreviated phrase for
“I wish to continue having in the future what I now at present
have” (βούλομαι τὰ νῦν παρόντα
παρεῖναι). For the force of βούλησις, cp.
Isocr. Hel. 219 A
τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἄλλων, ὧν ἂν ἐν χρείᾳ γενώμεθα, τυχεῖν
μόνον βουλόμεθα... τῶν δὲ καλῶν ἔρως ἡμῖν ἐγγίγνεται, τοσούτῳ μείζω
τοῦ βούλεσθαι ῥώμην ἔχων, ὅσῳπερ καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα κρεῖττον
ἐστίν (with which cp. also 205 D below).
This text is part of:
The Symposium of Plato. R. G. Bury. 1909. Cambridge. W. Heffer and Sons.
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