Eros and immortality: an approach to the most platonic Unamuno

Abstract

Greek culture, along with platonic philosophy, has regarded the immortality of the soul as a certainty. For his part, Unamuno's thought is structured around his yearning for immortality. In unamunian philosophy, various paths are explored to address this fundamental anthropological problem. The lack of success in this endeavour leads to a sense of tragicism, which becomes a philosophical stance, conceptualized in his work Del sentimiento trágico de la vida.

Both Plato and Unamuno ultimately shift from logos to myth or religion in order to tackle themes that rationality cannot resolve. Is it possible that both thinkers converge in their conception of the immortality of the soul?

We pursue the thesis that love is the meeting point between their perspectives, understood as a means of «immortalizing» the soul. In this study, we aim to bring these two lines of thought into dialogue and identify any potential platonic elements within the philosophy of the Basque thinker.