The Nature of Love
“Harry couldn’t help it, he was in love”. What does such a statement imply about the nature of love? Write an essay which argues your particular view on the nature of love and the object of that love. Limit your answer to the notion of romantic love and use Robert Ehman as a starting point.
Everybody seems to believe that love is a good thing. However, not all agree on what love is. Is love that warm fuzzy feeling a person has when they are with a familiar person? According to the Bible, love is caring in action. Love is not what we feel, but what we do; however the object of love is not defined. (Bible Gateway, 2012) In this discussion I will describe what the nature of love is based on the idea of love as a verb, as something one does and how the object of that love is affected by nature. I believe love is an event that happens to us, that is out of our control and not an action. As Robert Ehman (1989) suggests to experience true love, it is the qualities of a person and not the person themselves that leads you to feel and act upon your love. Not everyone will experience being in love. The idea that nature affects how one defines love shows how in different cultures love has become socialised and what is normal when referring to love. As stated by Harlow, (1958) love responses begin to form extremely early on in the development of an infant between an infant and the mother. This reflects the idea that love is a verb to love being an emotion.
Robert Ehman, (1989) argues the exclusivity of love is “a mere species of either ethical relationships sexual desire or the dialectical struggle to dominate the other.” (p. 256) To expand further he suggests it is an event, where the event is the act of ‘doing.’ To experience true love is about the personal connection between two individuals and how they are emotionally drawn to one another. The ‘dialectical struggle’ refers to the “truth of opinions” that become important as a person adapts to sharing their personal
Everybody seems to believe that love is a good thing. However, not all agree on what love is. Is love that warm fuzzy feeling a person has when they are with a familiar person? According to the Bible, love is caring in action. Love is not what we feel, but what we do; however the object of love is not defined. (Bible Gateway, 2012) In this discussion I will describe what the nature of love is based on the idea of love as a verb, as something one does and how the object of that love is affected by nature. I believe love is an event that happens to us, that is out of our control and not an action. As Robert Ehman (1989) suggests to experience true love, it is the qualities of a person and not the person themselves that leads you to feel and act upon your love. Not everyone will experience being in love. The idea that nature affects how one defines love shows how in different cultures love has become socialised and what is normal when referring to love. As stated by Harlow, (1958) love responses begin to form extremely early on in the development of an infant between an infant and the mother. This reflects the idea that love is a verb to love being an emotion.
Robert Ehman, (1989) argues the exclusivity of love is “a mere species of either ethical relationships sexual desire or the dialectical struggle to dominate the other.” (p. 256) To expand further he suggests it is an event, where the event is the act of ‘doing.’ To experience true love is about the personal connection between two individuals and how they are emotionally drawn to one another. The ‘dialectical struggle’ refers to the “truth of opinions” that become important as a person adapts to sharing their personal