We explain everything about love and what it means to love, the types of love that exist and their symbols. Also, the meanings of love from different perspectives.
What is love?
love It is a feeling of affection that a person can experience towards someone or something. Love involves feeling respect, connection and the desire to get closer to others.
The feeling of love is expressed as a positive bond based on elements such as affection, the possibility of expressing opinions, empathy, commitment and freedom. It has an important impact on people's well-being and represents a motivational driver. It is considered a universal value because promotes the peace and coexistence in diversity.
There are different types of love. For example, romantic love, which involves sexual desire as part of affection towards a person; brotherly love, which is typical of the bonds of brotherhood; the love for animals, which is expressed in respect for other species; friendship, which is based on companionship. In all manifestations of love there is a common characteristic: the desire to invest time and care in someone else.
Love has been studied from various areas, such as philosophy, psychology and neuroscience, among others. Furthermore, it has been represented through different symbols.
See also: Fall in love
Love as value
Love is a value. Values are positive and desirable qualities that guide the behavior of human beings. Love as a value guides people to relate with empathy, cooperation and understanding
Loving makes it possible to differentiate what is right from what is wrong, because it implies desiring the well-being of loved ones. Thus, love is valued by societies because it drives the development of harmonious and peaceful relationships, and is reflected in all areas: family, school, community, work, and personal.
Love as a value is expressed in doing things and having selfless gestures towards another person, such as:
- Help her progress.
- Cheer her up in sad moments.
- Accompany her in decision making.
- Be present in the good and bad moments of your life.
See also: Values
Types of love
There are different types of love, which are usually present throughout people's lives.
One of the ways to classify love is according to its object, that is, according to who it is directed to. According to this criterion, the most frequent types of love are:
- Romantic love. It generates couple bonds and involves sexual attraction towards another person. It is an intense state whose effects depend on factors such as the length of the relationship and the correspondence, that is, whether it is reciprocal or unrequited.
- platonic love It is an idealized and unattainable love, which is based on fantasy. This concept comes from the philosophy of Plato, who described love as something pure that could only exist in the world of ideas.
- Unconditional love It is the affection that is offered to someone without expecting anything in return. It generates security and implies acceptance of the other person's decisions. It usually exists between parents and children.
- Brotherly love. It refers to affection towards another human being and is expressed in horizontal bonds, such as love between siblings.
- Filial love. It is the affection between parents and children, which expands to other members of a family. It is expressed in care, protection and respect for the other person.
- Self-love It is the positive assessment of oneself. It is based on self-knowledge and self-acceptance.
- Love of animals and plants. It is the affection towards other living beings. It manifests itself in interest, care and compassion towards them.
- Love of God. It is the connection with the divine. It is expressed in spiritual commitment and usually includes practices or rituals.
- Friendship love It is the affection that is born from the interaction between two people. It is based on trust and camaraderie.
- True love It is a concept that describes a set of beliefs about romantic love, generally based on myths such as eternal or predestined love. It is usually represented in movies, songs and stories as an ideal love, capable of overcoming any obstacle.
Types of love in Ancient Greece
In ancient times, the Greeks used different terms to refer to love:
- Eros It refers to romantic or passionate love, which is based on desire and is usually experienced in the early stages of a relationship.
- Storge It refers to brotherly and filial love, which is based on familiarity and usually exists between parents and children and between siblings.
- Philia It refers to the love of friendship, which is fraternal and is based on trust and companionship. It is also used as a suffix to describe the taste or affinity towards specific things. For example, philosophy It means love of wisdom.
- Agape It refers to unconditional love, which is based on generosity and sacrifice. It is present in selfless actions, such as community help.
Symbols of love
Love has been represented in various ways throughout history and in different cultures. Some of the most important symbols of love are:
- Heart. The image of a red heart is one of the most widespread symbols of love. It especially represents romantic love, as the center of emotions and feelings.
- Cupid. He is the Roman god of love. He is usually represented as a winged child, with a bow and arrows that inspire love in those who receive them.
- Valentine's Day It is a holiday that originated as a commemoration of a priest who in Rome, in the 3rd century, decided to disobey the emperor's order to prohibit marriages to preserve his soldiers. For this reason, on February 14, 270, Valentine was sentenced to death.
Meanings and perspectives on love
The concept of love has changed through different eras and varies depending on the cultural context. The conception of love is influenced by the economic, social and political characteristics of each historical moment. It is a complex social and cultural construction.
Thus, the term love It encompasses multiple interpretations and is studied from various points of view, disciplines and sciences.
From religions
Religions (especially monotheistic ones) usually raise a God as the maximum figure of love.
In this sense, Judaism and Christianity place love as the basis of their creed. “You will love your neighbor as yourself” and “Love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all things” are two of the most important mandates of these religions, since both postulates summarize the vision they have about love of neighbor and God.
For Christianity, the main source of love is God. Various apostles and saints, in their letters or writings, described love as the axis on which human relationships are built. Saint Augustine (354-430), one of the first philosophers of Christianity, synthesized the meaning of love for this doctrine in the phrase “Love and do what you want.”
On the other hand, for Buddhism, love is the path to spiritual liberation. This religion distinguishes four types of love: kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. It is a selfless feeling towards the other, which implies freedom from selfishness.
From philosophy
Love as a concept has awakened various interpretations in philosophy throughout history. Some of the most widespread definitions are:
- Plato (427-347 BC). Greek philosopher, disciple of Socrates, developed his concept of love in his works The banquet and Phaedrus. For Plato, love is the impulse that seeks to go beyond the material and access beauty.
- Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677). Rationalist philosopher of Dutch origin, in his book Ethics He defined love as joy related to the idea of external causes. Thus, love is a dynamic through which the person increases his power (joy) when he imagines or remembers an external cause (loved object) and strives to preserve that idea.
- José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955). Spanish philosopher and essayist, characterized love in his book Studies on love. He differentiated it from desire, describing desire as passive and love as active, because it requires going in search of others. Thus, it produces movement and is the driving force to get out of oneself.
- Zygmunt Bauman (1925-2017) Polish philosopher and sociologist, introduced the concept of “liquid love” and defined it as that which governs the type of interpersonal relationships that develop in postmodernity (whether romantic love or not). For Bauman, liquid love is based on individualism and generates fleeting, superficial interpersonal relationships with little commitment.
From psychology
The different schools and currents of psychology have defined and characterized love in different ways.
A view on love is what Sigmund Freud postulated in 1905, in his work Three essays on a sexual theory. There he described the sexual drive, which is an impulse that is present in people from birth and gives rise to libido (sexual desire). Love is one of the forms of expression of that energy, which can be directed towards another person (object libido) or towards oneself (narcissistic libido). In general, these two destinations complement each other.
On the other hand, the psychoanalyst Erich Fromm wrote his work in 1959 The art of loving, where he describes love as an art: it is an emotional process that allows one to know the other and oneself. Fromm analyzes different forms of love: brotherly love, love of oneself, love of one's partner, love of father and mother, love of God. For him, the qualities of mature love are care, responsibility, respect and knowledge.
Another of the most widespread theories was developed by the American psychologist Robert Sternberg. In 1986, he postulated the triangular theory of love, in which he detailed the three components that constitute the different types of love: intimacy (shared experiences), commitment (dedication), and passion (desire).
Thus, the different combinations of these three elements result in a certain type of love. For example, sociable love is made up of intimacy and commitment, while romantic love is made up of passion and intimacy. When all three components are present, there is a balance and it is called “consummate love.”
From biology
Over many years of research, biology has found a relationship between love and the levels of certain hormones produced by the brain, such as dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin. From this perspective, love is a physiological response.
One of the main scholars of the experience of romantic love at a scientific level is Helen Fisher, who classifies the process of passionate or romantic love into three stages:
- Lust Physiological mechanisms produce sexual desire and a feeling of well-being.
- Attraction Attention is focused on the loved one. It is associated with symptoms such as decreased appetite and lack of sleep, and with feelings of enthusiasm and optimism.
- Attachment The predominant feelings are trust, tenderness and well-being. It is the stage of mature love.
Fisher confirmed through MRIs that there are areas of the brain that are activated when people feel love. This activity produces effects on emotions and allows you to experience gratification and pleasure.
References
- Bauman, Z. (2005). Liquid love. About the fragility of human bonds. Economic Culture Fund.
- Edwards, S. (2015). Love and the Brain. Harvard Medical School. https://hms.harvard.edu/
- Exploring Your Mind. (2022). Liquid Love: The Fragility of Relationships. https://exploringyourmind.com/
- Fischer, H. (sf). ¿What happens in our brain when we fall in love?. BBVA We Learn Together 2030. https://aprendemosjuntos.bbva.com/
- Fromm, E. (1977). The art of loving. Paidós.
- Huntington, C. (2024). What is Love? Definition, Signs & Types. The Berkeley Well-Being Institute. https://www.berkeleywellbeing.com/
- Romero, S and Campos, R. (sf). Why is Valentine's Day celebrated on February 14? BBVA. https://www.bbva.com/es/
- Tapia, D. (2021). An approach to love in the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza. Philosophy Studies, (19), 37-60. https://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/
