It is customary to give the name of true love to a very strong feeling of affection between two people. This feeling is so intense that it is able to unite these two people under any circumstances, even in the face of the greatest difficulties and trials.
Perhaps the most classic example of true love is the romance between the characters. Romeo and Juliet, from the famous tragedy of William Shakespeare. The love between the two young people is so intense that they are able to resist all the obstacles created by their families.
There are many possible definitions of true love, and we may even doubt whether it really exists or whether it is just a literary creation. Many thinkers and poets since antiquity have tried to define love, and the results are quite varied.
For the Greek poet Hesiod, who lived in the VIII century; C., love is a force that moves things, being able to unite them and keep them together. As for the philosopher Plato (428-348 a. C.), love is characterized by the feeling of lack or the desire to have what one does not have. So we can say that, according to the Platonic definition, the basis of true love is
idea of incompleteness, it is up to the loved one to fill this empty space.French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650), one of the greatest names in the Enlightenment, defines love as an andsoul motion that leads us to a voluntary union with those who do us good. When there is this union, says Descartes, we are invaded by a strong feeling of benevolence towards the loved one - and this can be pointed out as one of the characteristics of true love.
The German philosopher Leibniz (1646-1716) says that there is only true love when pleasure is sought in the satisfaction and happiness of the person we love. In sincere or true love, our happiness is linked to the happiness of the loved one. When she suffers, we suffer too. Pure love is not selfish. There are no gains for just one side. Both sides of the relationship share the same happiness.
In a romantically inspired text, the German philosopher Hegel (1770-1831) defines true love as an infinite feeling that produces a "true unification" between two people. It is at the basis of true love a complete identification with another person, to the point where both sides feel that their existence depends on unity with the other.
Thus, the so-called romantic love provides us with a paradoxical idea: in true love, we find the fullness of our being in the abandoning ourselves and identifying with the other. Hegel says that love is "the feeling by which two beings only exist in perfect unity and put into this identity his whole soul and the whole world.” We return to the story of the lovers of Verona, immortalized by William Shakespeare.
Look 7 Philosophers who defined love in an epic way
In addition to the authors mentioned, there are many others who talk about love. Given this, it is difficult to choose just one that is able to define this feeling so intense and complex. So if you want to know more, take a look at some love ratings, such as platonic love, O Brotherly love, O unconditional love etc.
See also:
- meaning of love
- Occasions When an "I Love You" Doesn't Mean "I Love You"
- Works of art that define true love perfectly
- The meaning of love in 20 images