How does philosophy explain love?

The idea of romantic love initially stems from the Platonic tradition that love is a desire for beauty-a value that transcends the particularities of the physical body. For Plato, the love of beauty culminates in the love of philosophy, the subject that pursues the highest capacity of thinking.

Is there a love philosophy?

Philosophy of love is the field of social philosophy and ethics that attempts to explain the nature of love.

What is the highest form of love in philosophy?

the love of wisdom
In the Symposium, Plato presents the love of wisdom as the highest form of love and philosophy as a refinement of our sexual urges that leads us to desire wisdom over sex.

Is love a choice philosophy?

One of the things that sets love apart from the other positive emotions is that it involves a choice. Liking and disliking are often controlled by impulse; but love is a choice, despite what the romantics say. This choice to love is the beginning of the commitment that forms the thinking part of love.

What do great philosophers say about love?

“Two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one.” “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” “Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” “Love grants in a moment what toil can hardly achieve in an age.”

What philosophers say about love?

Of the classic ideas on love, Aristotle seemed most intrigued by philia, or brotherly love, and the types of friendships contained within it: utility, pleasure and friendships of “good.” Utility friendships are just that: relationships that exist mostly due to circumstance.

Is love a feeling or a thought?

Romantic love—referred to as love—, is a physiological drive, but society has come to understand it as an emotion. Nevertheless, many researchers, mainly psychologists, have established its impulsive and motivational characteristics, which are even similar to those of addictive drug abuse.

What did Plato say about love?

Plato believed that love is the motivation that leads one to try to know and contemplate beauty in itself. This happens through a gradual process that begins with an appreciation of the appearance of physical beauty and then moves on to an appreciation of spiritual beauty.