Love is an intense feeling of affection related to a sense of strong loyalty or profound oneness.[1] The
meaning of love varies relative to context. Romantic love is seen as an
ineffable feeling of intense attraction shared in
passionate or intimate attraction
and intimate interpersonal and
sexual relationships.[2] Though often linked to personal relations, love is often given a broader signification, a love of humanity, of nature, with
life itself, or a oneness with the Universe, a
universal love. Love can also be construed as platonic love,[3] religious love,[4]
familial love, and, more casually, great affection for anything considered strongly
pleasurable, desirable, or preferred, to include activities and foods.[5][2] This diverse
range of meanings in the singular word love is often contrasted with the plurality of Greek words for love, reflecting the concept's depth, versatility, and complexity.
Definitions
The definition of love is the subject of considerable debate, enduring speculation and thoughtful introspection. The
difficulty of finding a universal definition for love is typically tackled by classifying it into types, such as passionate love,
romantic love, and committed love. These types of love can often be generalized into a level of sexual attraction. In common use,
love has two primary meanings, the first being an indication of adoration for another person or thing, and the second
being a state of relational status. Love is an act of identifying with a person or thing, capable of even including oneself (cf.
narcissism; reverence). Dictionaries tend to
define love as deep affection or fondness.[1] In colloquial use, according to polled opinion, the most favored definitions of love
involve altruism, selflessness, friendship, union, family, and bonding or connecting with
another.
Thomas Jay Oord has defined love in various scholarly publications as acting
intentionally, in sympathetic response to others (including God), to promote overall well-being. Oord means for his definition to
be sufficient for research in ethics, religion, and science.
The different aspects of love can be roughly illustrated by comparing their corollaries and opposites. As a general
expression of positive sentiment (a stronger form of like), love is commonly contrasted with hate (or neutral apathy). As a less sexual and more mutual and "pure" form of
romantic attachment, love is commonly contrasted with lust, and as an interpersonal relationship
with romantic overtones, love is commonly contrasted with friendship. Other
connotations of love may be applied to close friendships as well.
The very existence of love is sometimes subject to debate. Some categorically reject the notion as false or
meaningless.[citation needed] Others call it a recently-invented abstraction, sometimes dating the "invention" to courtly Europe during or after the Middle Ages.[citation needed] Others maintain that love really
exists, and is not an abstraction, but is undefinable, being essentially spiritual or
metaphysical in nature.[citation needed] Some psychologists maintain that love is the action of lending one's
"boundary" or "self-esteem" to another.[citation needed] Others attempt to define love by applying the definition to everyday
life.[citation needed]
Cultural differences make any universal definition of love difficult to establish. Expressions of love may include the love
for a soul or mind, the love of laws and organizations, love for a
body, love for nature, love of food, love of money, love for learning, love of power, love of fame, love for the respect of
others, etc. Different people place varying degrees of importance on the kinds of love they receive. Love is essentially an
abstract concept,[citation needed] easier to experience than to explain. Because of the complex and abstract
nature of love, discourse on love is commonly reduced to a thought-terminating
cliché, and there are a number of common proverbs regarding love, from Virgil's "Love
conquers all" to The Beatles' "All you need is
love".
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Scientific views
-
Throughout history, philosophy and religion have done
the most speculation on the phenomenon of love. In the last century, the science of psychology has written a great deal on the subject. In recent years, the sciences of evolutionary psychology, evolutionary biology,
anthropology, neuroscience, and biology have added to the understanding of the nature and function of love.
Chemistry of love
- See main: Interpersonal chemistry.
Biological models of sex tend to view love as a mammalian drive, much like hunger or thirst.[6] Helen Fisher, a leading expert in the topic of
love, divides the experience of love into three partly-overlapping stages: lust, attraction, and attachment. Lust exposes people
to others, romantic attraction encourages people to focus their energy on mating, and attachment involves tolerating the spouse
long enough to rear a child into infancy.
Lust is the initial passionate sexual desire that promotes mating, and involves the increased release of chemicals such as testosterone and estrogen. These effects rarely last more than a few
weeks or months. Attraction is the more individualized and romantic desire for
a specific candidate for mating, which develops out of lust as commitment to an individual mate forms. Recent studies in
neuroscience have indicated that as people fall in love, the brain consistently releases a
certain set of chemicals, including pheromones, dopamine,
norepinephrine, and serotonin, which act similar to
amphetamines, stimulating the brain's pleasure
center and leading to side-effects such as an increased heart rate, loss of appetite
and sleep, and an intense feeling of excitement. Research has indicated that this stage generally lasts from one and a half to
three years.[7]
Since the lust and attraction stages are both considered temporary, a third stage is needed to account for long-term
relationships. Attachment is the bonding which
promotes relationships that last for many years, and even decades. Attachment is generally based on commitments such as
marriage and children, or on mutual friendship based on things
like shared interests. It has been linked to higher levels of the chemicals oxytocin and
vasopressin than short-term relationships have.[7]
In 2005, Italian scientists at Pavia University found that a protein molecule
known as the nerve growth factor (NGF) has high levels when people first fall in
love, but these levels return to as they were after one year. Specifically, four neurotrophin levels, i.e. NGF, BDNF,
NT-3, and NT-4, of 58 subjects who had recently fallen in
love were compared with levels in a control group who were either single or already engaged in a long-term relationship. The
results showed that NGF levels were significantly higher in the subjects in love than as compared to either of the control
groups.[8]
Psychology of love
- Further information: Human bonding
Psychology depicts love as a cognitive and social phenomenon. Psychologist
Robert Sternberg formulated a triangular
theory of love and argued that love has three different components: intimacy, commitment, and passion. Intimacy is
a form by which two people can share secrets and various details of their personal lives. Intimacy is usually shown in
friendships and romantic love affairs. Commitment, on the other hand, is the expectation that the relationship is going to last
forever. The last and most common form of love is sexual attraction and passion. Passionate love is shown in infatuation as well
as romantic love. This led researchers such as Yela[citation needed] to further refine the model by separating passion into two independents
components: erotic passion and romantic passion.
Following developments in electrical theories, such as Coulomb's law, which showed that
positive and negative charges attract, analogs in human life were developed, such as "opposites attract". Over the last century,
research on the nature of human mating has generally found this not to be true when it comes to character and personality; people
tend to like people like themselves. However, in a few unusual and specific domains, such as immune systems, it seems that humans
prefer others who are unlike themselves (e.g. with an orthogonal immune system), since this will lead to a baby which has the
best of both worlds.[9] In recent years, various
human bonding theories have been developed described in terms of attachments, ties, bonds,
and affinities.
Some Western authorities disaggregate into two main components, the altruistic and the narcissistic. This view is represented
in the works of Scott Peck, whose works in the field of applied psychology explored the
definitions of love and evil. Peck maintains that love is a combination of the "concern for the spiritual growth of another", and
simple narcissism.[10] In combination, love is an
activity, not simply a feeling.
Philosophical views
'Sacred Love versus Profane Love' by Giovanni Baglione
People, throughout history, have often considered phenomena such as "love at first
sight" or "instant friendships" to be the result of an uncontrollable force of attraction
or affinity.[11] One of the first to theorize in this
direction was the Greek philosopher Empedocles, who in the 4th century BC argued for the
existence of two forces, love (philia) and strife (neikos), which were used to account for the causes of motion in
the universe. These two forces were said to intermingle with the classical elements,
i.e., earth, water, air, and fire, in such a manner that love served as the binding power linking the various parts of existence
harmoniously together.
Later, Plato interpreted Empedocles' two agents as attraction and repulsion,
stating that their operation is conceived in an alternate sequence.[12] From these arguments, Plato originated the concept of "likes attract", e.g., earth is attracted to
earth, water to water, and fire to fire. In modern terms this is often phrased in terms of "birds of a feather flock
together".
Bertrand Russell describes love as a condition of "absolute value", as opposed to
relative value. Thomas Jay Oord defines love as
acting intentionally, in sympathetic response to others (including God), to promote overall well-being. Oord means for his
definition to be adequate for religion, philosophy, and the sciences. Robert A.
Heinlein, one of the most prolific science fiction writers of the 20th century, defined love in his novel
Stranger in a Strange Land as the point of emotional connection which
leads to the happiness of another being essential to one's own well being. This definition ignores the ideas of religion and
science and instead focuses on the meaning of love as it relates to the individual.
Also, an ancient proverb states that love is a high form of tolerance. This view is one that many philosophers and scholars
have researched, and is widely accepted.
Religious views
|
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The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page. |
-
The Bible speaks of love as a set of attitudes and actions that are far broader than the
concept of love as an emotional attachment. Love is seen as a set of behaviors that humankind is encouraged to act out. One is
encouraged not just to love one's partner, or even one's friends but also to love one's enemies. The Bible describes this type of
active love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:
| “ |
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. |
” |
Romantic love is also present in the Bible, particularly the Song of Songs.
Traditionally, this book has been interpreted allegorically as a picture of God's love for Israel and the Church. When taken
naturally, we see a picture of ideal human marriage:[13]
| “ |
Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong
as death, its jealously unyielding as the grave. It burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench
love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned. |
” |
The passage dodi li v'ani lo (Hebrew: דודי לי ואני לו), i.e. "my beloved is
mine and I am my beloved", from Song of Songs 2:16, is an example of a biblical quote
commonly engraved on wedding bands.
The Bible states love is a characteristic of God. I John 4:8 states "God is
Love". In essence, God is the epitomy of love - in action and relation. It is God that first loved mankind and desired a
relationship. (John 3:16-17) Love is the underlying drive in most people.[citation needed] The search for love seems endless within the human race, throughout the
ages.[citation needed] The Bible defines God as being
the completeness of love. Love, as being defined by Him, is demonstrated in his character and personality. Another way of
defining this type of love is "godly love", a love shown through the example of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. However, this
"sacrificial" love can also be expressed by humans, although imperfectly. For example, the love of a mother for her child. Many
mothers would sacrifice anything for their children. It is this type of love that the Bible teaches us to follow and to share
with one another. Love, in the end, is truly a sacrifice, ultimately expressed in the crucifixion of Jesus as described in the New
Testament. C.S. Lewis discusses Christian ideas about love in his book The Four
Loves
Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian
Science, defines Love as one of 7 synonyms for God. This indicates that Deity is more than a being that has benevolent
concerns for mankind, but rather that God is Love itself. Love is also synonymous with Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Life, and
Truth and indicate the depth and wholeness of Love.[citation needed]
In Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke, there are
six words for Unconditional Love (Kenoota, Khooba, Makikh, Abilii, Rukha and Dadcean Libhoun) which are untranslatable and are
all translated as the one word “Love” in the English Bible. They are explained here
The Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture, helps devotees to see that love conquers all. It
says, "Sattva—pure, luminous, and free from sorrow—binds us to happiness and wisdom" (Number 6). Sattva, translated as purity, helps one to see that love evolves from selflessness.
Cultural views
-
The
heart, a frequent modern symbol of love
Although there exist numerous cross-cultural unified similarities as to the nature and definition of love, as in there being a
thread of commitment, tenderness, and passion common to all human existence, there are differences. Throughout history,
predominantly, philosophy and religion have speculated the
most into the phenomena of love. The sciences of evolutionary psychology, evolutionary biology,
anthropology, neuroscience, and biology have begun to take center stage in discussion as to the nature and function of love. The general
consensus supposes that the phenomenon and process of love is subject to the laws of
science just as is anything in the universe.
See also
References
- ^ a b
- ^ a b http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/love
- ^ Kristeller, Paul Oskar (1980). Renaissance Thought and the Arts: collected essays.
Princeton University. ISBN 0691020108.
- ^ Mascaró, Juan (2003). The Bhagavad Gita. Penguin Classics. ISBN
0140449183. (J.
Mascaró translator)
- ^ Casual application of the word love also includes
idiomatic expressions and uses with differing connotations. For example, as a sardonic expression
of disapproval: "I just love how politicians always make empty promises."
- ^ Lewis, Thomas; Amini, F., & Lannon, R. (2000). A General Theory of Love. Random House. ISBN
0-375-70922-3.
- ^ a b Winston, Robert (2004). Human. Smithsonian Institution.
- ^ Emanuele, E. Polliti, P, Bianchi, M. Minoretti, P. Bertona, M., &
Geroldi, D. (2005). “Raised plasma nerve growth factor levels associated with early-stage romantic love.” Abstract. Psychoneuroendocrinology, Nov.
09.
- ^ Berscheid, Ellen; Walster, Elaine, H. (1969). Interpersonal Attraction. Addison-Wesley
Publishing Co.. CCCN 69-17443.
- ^ Peck, Scott (1978). The Road Less Traveled. Simon & Schuster, 169. ISBN
0-671-25067-1.
- ^ Fisher, Helen (2004). Why We Love – the Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love. Henry Holt and
Company. ISBN 0-8050-6913-5.
- ^ Jammer, Max (1956). Concepts of Force. Dover Publications, Inc.. ISBN
0-486-40689-X.
- ^ Bible, 8:6-7, NIV.
Further reading
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
- Roger Allen, Hillar Kilpatrick, and Ed de Moor, eds. Love and Sexuality in Modern Arabic Literature. London: Saqi
Books, 1995.
- Shadi Bartsch and Thomas Bartscherer, eds. Erotikon: Essays on Eros, Ancient and Modern. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2005.
- Mary Baker Eddy, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. 2006
- Helen Fisher. Why We Love: the Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love
- Gabriele Froböse, Rolf Froböse, Michael Gross (Translator): Lust and Love: Is it more than Chemistry? Publisher: Royal
Society of Chemistry, ISBN 0-85404-867-7, (2006).
- bell hooks, 'All About Love: New
Visions'. New York: Harper Perennial, 2000.
- Johnson, P (2005) 'Love, Heterosexuality and Society'. Routledge: London.
- Thomas Jay Oord, Science of Love: The Wisdom of Well-Being. Philadelphia: Templeton Foundation Press, 2004.
- R. J. Sternberg. A triangular theory of love. 1986. Psychological Review, 93, 119–135
- R. J. Sternberg. Liking versus loving: A comparative evaluation of theories. 1987. Psychological Bulletin, 102,
331–345
- Sternberg, Robert (1998). Cupid's Arrow - the Course of Love through
Time. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-47893-6.
- Dorothy Tennov. Love and Limerence: the Experience of Being in Love. New York: Stein and Day, 1979. ISBN
0-8128-6134-5
- Dorothy Tennov. A Scientist Looks at Romantic Love and Calls It "Limerence": The Collected Works of Dorothy Tennov.
Greenwich, CT: The Great American Publishing Society (GRAMPS), [1]
- Wood, Wood and Boyd. The World of Psychology. 5th edition. 2005. Pearson Education, 402–403
- Jones, Del. "One of USA's Exports: Love, American Style" USA Today: February, 14, 2006.
External links
cdo:Áizh-yue:愛
bat-smg:Meilė
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