Defining Love
Uploaded by MichaelA31 on Mar 19, 2006
Love
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties, as an attraction based on sexual desires: affection and tenderness felt by lovers and as an affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interest. Do you know what word this is the definition for? Love. Love has several different meanings in the English language, from something that gives little pleasure to something that one would die for. It can describe an intense feeling of affection, an emotion, or an emotional state. Just as there are many types of lovers, there are many types of love. Love is inherent in all human cultures. It is precisely these cultural differences that make any universal definition of love difficult to establish. Expressions of love may include the love for a soul or mind, love of laws, love for a body, love for nature, love of food, love of money, love for learning, love of power and fame, love for respect, and many more. Different cultures and people place varying degrees of importance on the kinds of love they receive. Love is essentially an abstract concept, easier to experience than to explain. In this paper I will talk about the many different forms and beliefs of love through different scientific, cultural, and religious beliefs.
There have been many different scientific views taken up for love. Each views represents solid aspects of love and none can be written off. All biological models of love seem to see love as an animal drive, just like hunger and thirst. Psychology sees love as more of social and cultural creation. There are elements of truth in each view, as love is certainly influenced by hormones, pheromones, and how people think and behave in love is influenced by the conceptions of love. The conventional view of biology, attraction and attachment, says that there are two major drives in love, sexual attraction and attachment. The traditional view of psychology see love as being a combination of compassionate love and passionate love. It describes passionate love as intense longing, and it is often accompanied by physiological arousal. These physiological arousals would include, shortness of breath, rapid heart rate, sweaty palms, and more. This theory describes compassionate love as an affection and a feeling of intimacy not accompanied by the physiological arousals. The next theory, designed by Robert Sternberg characterizes love in an interpersonal relationship on...