What does it mean to love?
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I know this is a baseball forum, but I'm using the off-topic section just to kinda express my thoughts.
"I love MLB The Show. I love going to the movies. I love pizza." It's such an exaggerated word. We'll claim to love a food, a place, or a materialistic object, but is it possible to love anything that is not a living being.
We can look at the root of love itself. In English, we are limited by lack of words. We have one word, "love" when in reality it can have many meanings. The Greek language does much better with this, because they have four words for love with precise meaning.
Storgi - A love of sympathy for family members. This is the natural love between a child and her mother.
Philia - Brotherly (not as in family) love. This is the love you have for your good friends. Almost like a fellowship kind of love.
Eros - The sexual attraction between a man and woman, a husband and wife.
Agape - Love between God and man, which is made in his image and likeness. God loves his creation and his creation loves him and wants to praise him eternally.
What is the root of all love? All 4 categories? I'd argue that it is sacrifice. With storgi, you love your family members and are willing to make sacrifices to show it. The same applies with philia. With eros it allows you to offer yourself up entirely in union with another person. The interesting thing about eros is it being such a strong form of love, although it being a good thing, can be misinterpreted which can lead to lust, the opposite of eros love. Agape is the strongest love, God sacrifices himself and we give our lives to him.
So what's the conclusion here? Even if you aren't Christian I think it's still important to think about the types of love. All of which are gifts and are great things when expressed correctly, but when used incorrectly are vices. It's important to know what love actually is, it's important to make sacrifices for everybody and treat them as your own brother with storgi and philia, while also reserving eros for a spouse and agape for God.
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Some people would argue that there are more types of love, I would disagree. Love is a virtue. Ludus would be seen as an "uncommitted love", and if you aren't committed, than the sacrifice isn't truly there. Pragma is riddled with self interest and what you want in the long run. Philiautia is seen as "self-love". However, this often doesn't involve that sacrifice and can lead to pride, a vice and a deadly sin. While good self-esteem is important, by being humble, you are showing agape by sacrificing to do the will of a greater being.
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What is love??? Sorry I couldn't resist.
Love is a word, society gives it meaning, so the way it is used now "I love pizza" is how the word love is defined. It can mean other things to, I can say I love my wife if she existed, and I can say I love pizza. People know the difference, they don't think I equally love my nonexistent wife and pizza. It can be an everyday vernacular to describe that you like things.
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I’ll have what this guy is having
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What you are asking is a philosophical question that has been asked for thousands of years.
there is no answer to the question( as with the what is the meaning of life question) only how you answer it and what it means to you.and your answer will change over time
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@eatyum said in What does it mean to love?:
What is love??? Sorry I couldn't resist.
Love is a word, society gives it meaning, so the way it is used now "I love pizza" is how the word love is defined. It can mean other things to, I can say I love my wife if she existed, and I can say I love pizza. People know the difference, they don't think I equally love my nonexistent wife and pizza. It can be an everyday vernacular to describe that you like things.
I disagree with this. It’s also possible to misuse words, and I feel like people misuse and try to redefine words too frequently.
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@DriveByTrucker17 said in What does it mean to love?:
I’ll have what this guy is having
A will to love and an inquisitive mind?
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@KierannosaurusK said in What does it mean to love?:
@DriveByTrucker17 said in What does it mean to love?:
I’ll have what this guy is having
A will to love and an inquisitive mind?
Oh, is that what you call it? Must be a local thing.
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A person can learn more about love by just living and becoming older than by reading any book.
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@gatormike4id said in What does it mean to love?:
A person can learn more about love by just living and becoming older than by reading any book.
I would disagree and say that both knowledge and experience can go hand and hand.
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My point is that if you spend too much time attempting to label a feeling you can miss out on how it feels.
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