Randi Stanfill
Platonic
love comes from Plato, it is non sexual. Plato says, “To love rightly is to
love what is orderly and beautiful in an educated and disciplined way.” By this I think he
means, once you have a good relationship with God then you can love as long as
it is disciplined.
Everyone has a
different meaning of love. The word love could have meaning of affection,
pleasure, compassion, and many more. My definition of love is caring for
someone more than yourself and trusting that person with your life. Love is
unconditional. It is also said 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 does not dishonor others, 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… From a Christian
point of view, I think the best example of love comes from Jesus. It is the
selfless act of dying on the cross to save us. He cared more about other people
rather than himself and that’s what love is to me.
Love to me is the feeling of being
taken care of and having someone love you for yourself. When someone cares
about someone they make an effort to show that they are there for them and they
are willing to put themselves before others. People should not take others for
granted and use them. That is not the definition of love. Love is showing
someone you care, and shows someone that you can be loved no matter the
situation or circumstances you have been through in the past. Accept people for
who they are and do not forget to love unconditionally. That is what love is.
That is exactly what Jesus did.
Another philosopher, Aristotle
acknowledged three types love: Agape, Eros and Philia. Agape is the highest
form of love. Eros is more of a sexual love and philia is more of a love for
family or friends. Aristotle then went
on to say that the categories of friendship are pleasure, utility and of virtue.
He was more interested in friendship rather than love, but in order for this to
happen, you must have self-love. Once you have self-love you will be better off
and benefit others. Going off Aristotle, I also think you should have self-love
and respect before you find “the one”. Because how can you love someone else if
you can’t first love yourself? When you
love yourself and find someone to share your life with, you love that person
fully. You would drop anything for that person and strive to make/ see them
happy. Even if that means rearranging your life and/ or putting them before
you. Love has no boundaries or reason why other than the two of you being
together. Love is hard, love is patient, love is kind and love is for sure not
easy. Strive to be the best and you will be the happiest you can be as long as
you give your all.
"Love has no boundaries or reason why other than the two of you being together" - Plato wants to move beyond interpersonal love to something transcendent, "God" in some traditions, "The Good" in his own idiom. The big question for a Platonist is whether romantic binary love can coexist with the transcendent type, or must be displaced by it. If the latter, most humans - not all, there will always be devout retirees from the mundane interpersonal world - will find that "Higher Love" ultimately unsatisfying.
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