Themes of the Humanities: Love ❤
Love can be defined in various ways, whether it’s physically, emotionally, non-verbally, or verbally. Everyone has their own definition of what love actually is, but there is a general description that society has given the simple, yet complex word. The definition of love has morphed itself into something different where “love” is not just two people living together with a family that might as well be labeled as roommates rather than lovers. Love is not something you cannot just jump into; it is a gradual thing that allows you to become physically and emotionally connected with your desired partner or any other type of relationship for the matter. As stated by the text, “Love is hard to describe scientifically; it may be solely the invention of the human imagination without objective existence.” (409.13.2) Love is conceivably the most emotionally charged four letter word that can be found in the word bank of English language. Many times, during history love was perceived as nothing but a passion for sexual desire. As long as they were physically satisfied it was all they needed to describe love. This amount of lust surmounted to the misunderstanding of actual love during the classical era. Not only that, definitions of love were also present in their own manner to the point where having a discussion about it would be almost meaningless in a sense. This is why the Greeks had made a distinction on the actual concept of love. As stated in the text, “The Greeks made a distinction between eros, or love as physical lust… and agape, or a spiritual and intellectual relationship that is more important than a strictly physical one.” (410.13.6) In doing so it comes down to the question of if it is one or the other or a combination of both physical lust and a spiritual and intellectual relationship that makes up the true meaning of love.
I feel as if it is a combination of many things such as lust, passion and commitment. Having an equal balance of all those things is what defines true love. Having more than the other or simply just one without the other puts you far from being closer to understand the definite explanation of love as far as romantic love. Love for friends and family, however, slightly differs because lust is basically kept out of the equation. When it comes to family and friendships that strong bond that is shared amongst those individuals are platonic. Meaning that no sexual desire is needed to bond them in anyway even further than they already are. For friendships, it is a love found by a strong connection of similar interests and ideologies that is built over time. As far as family goes, love is established by the fate of being bonded by the same blood. These blood ties show many examples of family love like sibling rivalry or loyalty to the family name no matter the situation they still remain there for each other. This form of love is exactly what Plato prided on and saw how it should be the basis for all types of love. As found in the text, “One of the major lessons the humanities teach us is that all of us are free to choose, and that includes the freedom to define love in a way that is most meaningful for us.” (437.13.6) From this I feel as if this is why we sometimes stay or even feel single because as humans we crave an intellectual connection that bonds us for life, and if finding that love fills that find we will wait for our time.
Janaro, R. P., & Althshuler, T. C. (2013). The art of being human: The humanities as a technique for living. Pearson Learning Solutions.
Face, I. I. (n.d.). What is True Love? Retrieved from https://issuesiface.com/magazine/what-is-true-love
Home. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poems/family/love/
