The Value Of Love In Philosophy

Introduction

According to Hurka (2011), 'love is many-splendored ' (p.147). It is a part of one 's family life, social life, romantic relations, friendships, and even a spiritual self. It incorporates all aspects of interpersonal interactions, and thus connects one with the world and others. At the same time, love is an abstract term, related to real experience and the inmost sensations. How to explain this phenomenon has been one of the most fundamental questions in philosophy, discussed by Greek thinkers, as well as contemporary scholars. Love is considered profoundly important but also distinctly difficult to define. This essay is going to address two alternative ways of approaching love in philosophy, and assess its value, as well as

Or, more precisely, love is primarily an expression of self-love, which does not diminish one 's regard for 'the other ' (Taylor, 1982). A notable proponent of this idea is Erich Fromm, who equates love with one 's freedom, only conceivable when one 's self is integrated and realised (Fromm, 1939). In this manner, the idea of love comes from one 's own self-knowledge, thus assessing what can be afforded in love for others (de Waal, 1996). According to Pope (2002), one can never know anyone else as well as one knows himself or herself. Therefore, the value of love is its ability to create a dialogue through self-realisation. Cowburn (2003) stresses that 'all love involves oneness ' (p.25), and so love is an acceptance of oneself as a whole. To be one within yourself is a base for any other relationship (Little, 1993). Thus, Kierkegaard (1962) argues that 'if anyone, therefore, refuses to learn […] how to love himself in the right way, he cannot love his neighbour either ' (p.39). In other words, love is the bases for moral growth, established through an integration of the self. In this sense, love is an idea of becoming rather than being or possessing (Bauman, 2003). Therefore, love is, in essence, transcendental through one 's own being; it is the transcendence of one 's separation from 'the other

It attempted to capture 't he paradox […] that love simultaneously involves interest in oneself with interest in another ' (Wagoner, 1997, p.2), and fundamental principles of love as something denied to individuals, as well as something distinctly personal. It was shown that a sceptical view of love suggests love fails to manifest itself in practice. Instead, love is only a theoretical concept, imagined as an ideal, and what one experiences is a self-centred phenomena, based on biology. However, another philosophical approach recognises love in the very projection of the self, and its encounter with 'the other ', hence describing love as real in all its forms. Consequently, love is valuable in both approaches. On the one hand, it draws on morality, and asserts individuality of all its experiencers. On the other hand, love enables self-realisation and unselfish behaviour toward others. At the same time, love, both imagined and experienced, is based on reasons that are valuable in the entire history of thought. Aristotle 's model of love is driven by the idea of perfecting oneself, while philosophical realism sees bases of love in selfish desires and biological drives. In the experience model, reasons for love are the integration of the self, and the recognition of something other than me. Thus, this text offered contrasting views on love and its value. It