Divergent_Integral
Spastic ricecel, heightmogged by 99.74% of men
★★★★
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2020
- Posts
- 851
As a bit of my spillover from my other thread, I would like to lay before this forum the questions (1) what love is, and (2) whether it exists?
For me, love is a many-sided concept best described by the four Greek words for it:
1. Eros, i.e., love based on physical attraction.
2. Philia, i.e., the selfless kind of affection that one feels towards good friends, or: wanting the best for someone else.
3. Storge, i.e., a nurturing and visceral love that one feels towards next of kin (especially one's offspring).
4. Agape, i.e., universal love towards all mankind, the Mother Theresa variety of love.
Romantic love, in my view, is mainly comprised of Eros and Philia, with small admixtures of the other two; the latter based on the precise details of the relationship. In an ideal kind of romantic relationship, again: in my view, Eros would initially dominate Philia (i.e., infatuation); while the latter would gradually and organically grow more important as the relationship matures.
My theory is that Philia cannot arise in a romantic relationship if there's not (a) a big initial surge of Eros and (b) subsequently a calmer yet still steady flow of Eros underlying the growth of Philia. This would make love as I understand it all but impossible for anyone to attain except for Chad and Stacy.
For me, love is a many-sided concept best described by the four Greek words for it:
1. Eros, i.e., love based on physical attraction.
2. Philia, i.e., the selfless kind of affection that one feels towards good friends, or: wanting the best for someone else.
3. Storge, i.e., a nurturing and visceral love that one feels towards next of kin (especially one's offspring).
4. Agape, i.e., universal love towards all mankind, the Mother Theresa variety of love.
Romantic love, in my view, is mainly comprised of Eros and Philia, with small admixtures of the other two; the latter based on the precise details of the relationship. In an ideal kind of romantic relationship, again: in my view, Eros would initially dominate Philia (i.e., infatuation); while the latter would gradually and organically grow more important as the relationship matures.
My theory is that Philia cannot arise in a romantic relationship if there's not (a) a big initial surge of Eros and (b) subsequently a calmer yet still steady flow of Eros underlying the growth of Philia. This would make love as I understand it all but impossible for anyone to attain except for Chad and Stacy.