The Nature of Love
Posted: November 16th, 2022, 7:43 am
What is the nature of love? Is love a psychological thing like a kind of obsession or possessiveness? Is love a natural process like natural selection? Or is love something deeper like a gift from God or a spiritual feeling which cannot be expressed with words?
One thing for certain is that love exists and is very real, even though it can't be seen or touched. Love is a deep feeling which cannot be quantified with words. But the nature of love is not an all encompassing thing, indeed Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle held the theory that love has many different forms. This is also something I experienced in a psychedelic experience.
Here are some of the various forms of love as theorised by Plato and Aristotle. Which of these forms of love are you enjoying at the moment? Which forms of love is your life lacking right now?
Eros - A romantic love initiated by sexual attraction. The kind of love that two lovers might enjoy. At the moment I have no Eros love in my life, but rather than get depressed about such things, I just enjoy more time to myself and with friends and my daughter. I've experienced unrequited love for a woman before and this can be quite painful. @Outcast9428 alludes to Eros love being one of the most important things for a functioning society, this is why he advocates for a return to traditionalist values. Do you agree with him?
Agape - A kind of unconditional love. This is altruistic and selfless love. The kind of love an all loving God has for his children. I have this kind of love for Shiva and @MrMan undoubtedly has the same kind of love for the god of the Christian Bible. But what do you think? Does Agape love have much importance in society?
Storge - This kind of love is the kind of familiar love. The kind of love shared between parents and their child. As a father I can say I experience this love pretty intensely for my child who makes my life feel so much better for her having been part of it. Also wanna send a shout out to my buddy @MarcosZeitola, a proud father of, is it NINE? children with another on the way. How do you guys enjoy the love between your children or parents? How important is this kind of love?
Philia - A spiritual love or bond shared between true friends. Those who share the same values who you can relate to and trust implicitly. Some friendships are based on empty things like utility or other vacuous things like a common interest (such as drinking together at a weekend) true friendship is a mutual understanding and respect for each other which can't be expressed with words. I have this kind of bond with @Lucas88 who has been my closest friend since school. Also my buddy @Tsar. And I'd also like to think I've started creating these kind of bonds with other users of the forum such as @WanderingProtagonist and @WilliamSmith as well as some who have already been tagged previously.
Philautia - A self love. Not love for oneself in a narcissistic or selfish way, this is not what Greek philosophers meant by Philautia or self love. Self love is necessary in order for you to be capable of loving someone else or receiving love from someone else. @Mercer seems to be someone who has no self love, which is evident from his constant negativity. He should learn to love himself more and not devalue himself just because we live in a world which is becoming farther away from one of love and compassion. @CaptainSkelebob is someone most of us would associate with Philautia with how he goes on, but in actual fact he's just narcissistic and this doesn't qualify as a kind of Philautia love. He should have more compassion for others and more understanding.
So these are just some variants of love. Some people associate love with a romantic relationship with a partner or spouse, but as we can see you would not have the same kind of love for your father as you would have for your wife. That would be weird. What are your thoughts about this?
One thing for certain is that love exists and is very real, even though it can't be seen or touched. Love is a deep feeling which cannot be quantified with words. But the nature of love is not an all encompassing thing, indeed Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle held the theory that love has many different forms. This is also something I experienced in a psychedelic experience.
Here are some of the various forms of love as theorised by Plato and Aristotle. Which of these forms of love are you enjoying at the moment? Which forms of love is your life lacking right now?
Eros - A romantic love initiated by sexual attraction. The kind of love that two lovers might enjoy. At the moment I have no Eros love in my life, but rather than get depressed about such things, I just enjoy more time to myself and with friends and my daughter. I've experienced unrequited love for a woman before and this can be quite painful. @Outcast9428 alludes to Eros love being one of the most important things for a functioning society, this is why he advocates for a return to traditionalist values. Do you agree with him?
Agape - A kind of unconditional love. This is altruistic and selfless love. The kind of love an all loving God has for his children. I have this kind of love for Shiva and @MrMan undoubtedly has the same kind of love for the god of the Christian Bible. But what do you think? Does Agape love have much importance in society?
Storge - This kind of love is the kind of familiar love. The kind of love shared between parents and their child. As a father I can say I experience this love pretty intensely for my child who makes my life feel so much better for her having been part of it. Also wanna send a shout out to my buddy @MarcosZeitola, a proud father of, is it NINE? children with another on the way. How do you guys enjoy the love between your children or parents? How important is this kind of love?
Philia - A spiritual love or bond shared between true friends. Those who share the same values who you can relate to and trust implicitly. Some friendships are based on empty things like utility or other vacuous things like a common interest (such as drinking together at a weekend) true friendship is a mutual understanding and respect for each other which can't be expressed with words. I have this kind of bond with @Lucas88 who has been my closest friend since school. Also my buddy @Tsar. And I'd also like to think I've started creating these kind of bonds with other users of the forum such as @WanderingProtagonist and @WilliamSmith as well as some who have already been tagged previously.
Philautia - A self love. Not love for oneself in a narcissistic or selfish way, this is not what Greek philosophers meant by Philautia or self love. Self love is necessary in order for you to be capable of loving someone else or receiving love from someone else. @Mercer seems to be someone who has no self love, which is evident from his constant negativity. He should learn to love himself more and not devalue himself just because we live in a world which is becoming farther away from one of love and compassion. @CaptainSkelebob is someone most of us would associate with Philautia with how he goes on, but in actual fact he's just narcissistic and this doesn't qualify as a kind of Philautia love. He should have more compassion for others and more understanding.
So these are just some variants of love. Some people associate love with a romantic relationship with a partner or spouse, but as we can see you would not have the same kind of love for your father as you would have for your wife. That would be weird. What are your thoughts about this?