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What Is Love | A Philosophical Prospective

Kien Lai | Phil 465 | 12/04/00 | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

What Is Love?

The word love has been abused over the centuries to the point were it has almost become a cliche. We live in an overweening world were just about everything appears candy-coated and watered down into the most simplistic form. It seems as though Hollywood has all the answers to everything, even that of love. When, where, how, and with whom it is suppose to happen.

What is sad is that our mass-consumer society buys into this misleading concept and accepts it as being factual. We are complex people given simplistic answers. I, unfortunately, am a victim of such garbage. Luckily, I was able to, with what I have learned through the duration of this course, ponder over the enigma that plagues us all and uncovered a more well rounded understanding of what love truly is.

People who consider themselves experts on the subject of love should reevaluate what love is. What is love anyway? Although this course never truly answered this question, it has definitely opened many possibilities of what it could be. Surprisingly, it is not what we know that frightens me, it is so much of what we know is wrong. Most of us have this fairy tale notion of what love is, brought on by the media, society, parents, friends, school, and the like, but as I come to find through enlightenment, there is so much more to it than mere physical attraction and sex.

According to Aristophanes' thinking, it is an eternal longing of our other half. The struggle within ourselves to find our missing link to fill an empty void that constantly reminds us of how incomplete we truly are. That is one of the reasons why we have intercourse. To feel, for a minute period of time, one, but only to find in the end disappointment and a sense of a deeper void that inevitably consumes us.

Aristophanes' point of view regarding love really helped me understand why we pursue something that inflicts such internal pain upon us. However, one really has to be open minded to accept such bizarre thinking or be willing to "wander into the strange" so to speak. I strongly believe that being exposed to the varying opinions throughout the quarter on love has been and will be beneficial in continuing relationships and building stronger relationships.

It feels like I have awakened from a deep slumber. I am aware of the many transitions that love can induce upon a man when he is in love. I can say that I am definitely better off than I was before. This course has made me understand why my past relationships didn't last. As I look back, and how painful it is, I come to realize that there were justifiable reasons for how and why I acted the way I did. I wanted guarantees, love in return, and devotion, among many other demanding things. And many authors would agree with me that this is what we seek in the game of love. Love can be many things, both good and bad, but most of all, I have learned that it compensates for what we lack most, being complete.