Final Report Anna May Section 11

What is Love?

In my final report I will be exploring the philosophical realm of what love is. I will do this by walking through four states of love and using ancient Greek definitions, two well-known philosophers -Plato and Aristotle-, and the Bible to get a deeper philosophical understanding of love.

Love is one of the most powerful emotions a human can experience, but no one knows what true love is. Today we may easily define love as an intense feeling of deep affection, but the ancient Greeks went into depth with a definition; they used seven different words or states to define love:

·       Storage: natural affection

·       Philia: deep friendship

·       Eros: sexual and erotica

·       Agape: unconditional, divine love

Storage Love

A good way to think of storage love is to imagine the love you have for your family. This is “natural affection”. This love is unforced and is hard to lose. Think of the love that parents have for their children or the phrase “a mother’s love”. There is also mention of storage love in the Bible: Romans 12:10. In the bible’s context, storage love is philostorgos which can be translated to devoted or to be devoted. The Bible’s version is a good representation of storage love because it is a love that you are devoted to; it is a committed, loyal, and faithful love.



Philia Love:


Philia love is deep love that is shared between friends. This love is mostly referred to as brotherly love. We often hear philia love referred to as brotherly love in the Bible. A good example of the Bible’s version of philia is in John 21:15. Jesus asks Peter if he has agape love for him after he has denied Jesus. He wanted Jesus to know that he was still a friend of his. Peter responds by letting Jesus know that he has philia love for him. Greeks also valued philia love.  This specific love was shared among men who had fought together side by side. Philia meant far more than any sexual love to them. 


Philia love was an important form of love to Aristotle. Aristotle argued, “The defining features of friendship that are found in friendships to one’s neighbors would seem to be derived from features of friendship toward oneself. For a friend is taken to be someone who wishes and does goods or apparent goods to his friend for the friend’s own sake.” (Pimentel, Talk About Love)


Eros Love:

Eros love is best described as sexual and erotic desire. The Greeks used this word to describe romantic feelings like sexual love and passionate love. Eros was conveniently the Greek god of love and fertility. Although we tend to look at erotic love today as something exciting, the Greeks didn’t always see it that way. To them, erotic love was a dangerous love that could take you over similarly to how some Christians view erotic love today.

Unlike Aristotle who was deeply rooted in brotherly love (philia), Plato had strong feelings about erotic love (eros). He believed that the highest form of friendship was that of lovers. Plato sought to get to philia love though Eros first.




Agape Love:

Agape love can best be described as unconditional and divine love. Like storage and philia love, agape love has good representation throughout the Bible. Examples of agape love can be found in 1^st John 4:7-12, 16, John 3:16, Matthew 5:44, and Exodus 23:1-5. Many Christians refer to God’s love as agape love because of its depth. As Christians, we are taught that no matter how bad we sin or mess up, there is always forgiveness and everlasting love that flows from God to us. A great example of this is God dying for our sins on the cross. Unlike eros love, which is high in feeling, agape love is deeper than just a feeling; it is a way of life. We should have agape love for everyone around us the same way God does.
Quiz

1.     What philosopher was more into Eros Love?

2.     What is Philia love often referred to?

3.     What kind of love do parents have for children?

4.     What kind of interpretations of love did I discuss?

5.     Who had Philia Love with Jesus?

Discussion Questions:

1.     What type of love do you feel like you lack and why?

2.     What love are you most likely to give the most?

3.     I provided 4 of the 7 states of Greek love, do you know any of the others?

4.     What type of love do you think is most needed in our society and why?

5.     Do you know when you love someone or something? If so, how do you know?

Sources:

https://www.eharmony.com/what-is-love/

https://www.compellingtruth.org/storge-love.html

https://www.yesmagazine.org/health-happiness/2013/12/28/the-ancient-greeks-6-words-for-love-and-why-knowing-them-can-hange-your-life/

https://www.philosophynews.com/post/2011/06/27 /Talk-About-Love.aspx

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201206/platoe-true-love



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