Philosophical perspectives on the nature of love

¶ … Love

The myth of Narcissus is brought about to help understand the topic 'Thinking about love'. In this myth one day Narcissus had gone to hunt. The mountain nymph Echo who longed to speak to him but did not dare to utter the first word followed him through the woods. The nymph Echo showed all the efforts to express her love but was in vain, Narcissus pushed her away which left her to spend the rest of her life grieving for Narcissus. One day Narcissus became thirsty and went to a lake. Seeing his reflection in the water, he fell in love with it not realizing that it was his own reflection. However, every time he bends down to kiss it, it seemed to disappear. He was overwhelmed with fear of losing sight of his reflection and eventually he died of love and thirsty.

For both Echo and Narcissus, love of the world that is, beauty of the other in particular ' beautiful other' represented self-knowledge, self-completion and self-fulfillment which is why Echo withered away after having had her love spurned by narcissus.

Sternberg's triangular of love is one of the theory which points out three aspects of love relationships this comprises of intimacy, passion and commitment. People do so many things because of love, for instance people elope together, and sing songs because of love, kill themselves and others because of love. Love is more than a feeling. There are some emotional systems that correspond to Sternberg's passion, intimacy, and commitment. Example behaviors are:

Lust/passion craving for sexual gratification, associated with elevated levels of estrogens and androgens.

Attraction / intimacy increased energy spent on preferred mating partner, this can be referred to as 'intrusive thinking' about love interest. Attachment/commitment characterized by mutual territory, resource defense, close proximity, separation of anxiety.

Love then means addiction; it meets the criteria necessary for something to be classed as an addiction which are; tolerance, withdrawal, relapse.the study conducted by Helen Fisher whereby she stuck a bunch of madly in love people in fMRI scanners shows that romantic love is located in the ventral segmental area of the brain this is the part of the dopaminergic system which take part in reward, want and craving. The brain areas involved in love seem to suggest that rather than being an emotion perce, it is a goal-oriented state.

WE ALL NEED HAPPINESS

Happiness is what every individual aspire. Most people try to change their happiness by changing their circumstances; as a result of changing their life situation to one they are happier with- money, better house, and different gender they end up being happier because they like the new situation more. The happiness that most individuals experience comes from three sources: genetics, life circumstances, and intentional activities. Many things give a boost to ones happiness, but as we adapt to them happiness wears off. Circumstances are more long standing, intentional activities are short-term and there is no time to adapt to them.