What is love?

If you have taken a look at the slides for this week, then you have seen some of the many definitions of love. The five that I selected for you to look at are by no means inclusive and are meant to illustrate the different definitions that we commonly attribute to love: feelings of deep affection, religious affiliation, strong liking or fondness, romantic attachment, and sexual desire. If we cannot decide on one concrete definition of love, then we are left to ask ourselves the question that often governs this course: what is love?

The answers to this question are many and are often largely dependent on history, theoretical approaches, and our society and culture (hence how the course is organized). It is important to know where we come from (i.e. how emotions and the definitions associated with them have manifested themselves overtime) to better understand where were are situated today. For example, we might ask ourselves the following: is love the same across all cultures? is love universal? what is the future of love?

For those of you who are more visual learners, think about how you would draw love. What is the first image that pops into your mind? I would be surprised if it was not a heart (although, probably this rather than this). What other images do we attribute to love? Is anyone else thinking about Hallmark right now? It remains important for us to understand that there are many different interpretations of love.

Think of how you define love, and, if you have not yet done so, respond to the discussion post on our FOL site. Please feel free to leave comments on the class blog. These comments will not be graded and are just another means for us to talk about issues that come up in class. Also, if you would like to contribute to the blog, send me a post, and I will put it up.

*Check back regularly for class updates!