Love essay

Fisher 1 Brandon Fisher Antonio Calcagno Philosophy 1360e November 20, 2015 Love; Free or Oppressing? The meaning of love can be a difficult topic to explain, primarily due to the various context people tend to use it in. Regardless, love is usually described as a very powerful, desired emotion. It seems to be human nature to crave this affection, which is the main reason that plenty of controversy has been formed between love being either beneficial, or just an addictive distraction. Throughout the respective works of philosophers Plato and Freud, the subject of love can be compared and contrasted as strictly distracting and as a needed fundamental. Both perspectives have helped me generate my own, unique view on love. Good or bad, it is still a part of life; that being said, love needs to be looked at deeper to obtain the clearest understanding. One side of love, that Plato seems to lean towards, is the idea of love being a necessity and how it immensely impacts how you act and react to certain situations. This is definitely a view I find more plausible. Love is one of the best pleasures on earth, and to go against it and defend non-lovers seems quite bleak. Throughout Phaedrus, I understand what Lysias is saying when she dominantly defends non-lovers, and I agree with her points, I just find them to be adverse. I think this is because I believe love is deeply psychological and that it is very challenging to change your view. “Love is a serious mental disease.” (33. Phaedrus. Plato). This is probably my favourite quote because of its accuracy. I think it is important because it explains why people change when in love; the soul is manifested, you become soft, and essentially become in a state of possession. I find this view more tenable because of this; I am willing to go through factors like these in order to access the divine. With this, you need to be aware of truth and beauty, because both can be deceiving; this is something that I believe you need to experience too truly Fisher 2 understand because of the emotions that can come with it. Going through all the negative qualities listed about love can potentially be an advantage in the long run because it is something that can make you stronger, wiser, and smarter for the future. Whether it is a lover or a non-lover, the ideas and support in Phaedrus have ultimately been beneficial to me. When looking at a pessimistic side of love, Sigmund Freud poses valid ideas that support his more biology based, materialistic perspective. Having prior knowledge on Freud, what I expected was pretty obvious. To start off, He seemed to view humans like objects; for example, reproduction is our job, it is not meant for us. This is something I simply cannot agree with because it is a lot more complicated then that. Yes it is one of our functions to reproduce, but to experience pleasure is totally meant for us. This is primary purpose of why people reproduce. For the topic of love, I knew it would be strongly sex based, however the ideas and thoughts around his psychology are actually valid. They helped me edit my current view on love which I will discuss later. “The behavior of a human being in sexual matters is often a prototype for the whole of his other modes of reaction in life.”(Sexuality and the Psychology of Love. Freud). This is a popular quote from Freud that is basically stating how restricted and controlled human sexuality is. I believe that this is mainly because of society, but also religion; for example, abstinence till marriage. This would be a huge impact in the time of age because of how important religion was. From here, Freud gets into why human sexuality is a lot more complex. This consists of some solid support, but mainly irrelevant to my view on Love. I guess it is also fair to note that this context of love is pretty different from Plato’s view. Freud’s view on marriage may have been logical in his era but I don’t think it is anymore. I believe this because marriage now a days should be built on more than libido and sex drive. This is all Freud seemed to talk about throughout this article; concepts built around sex. However, it wasn’t pointless. His ideas made me really question my tendencies and beliefs. After reviewing the primitive sides shown by both philosophers, my own, original view on the topic of love has been considerably impacted. From Freud’s writing, there is limited information that changed my views. His perspective reduces reality and shows limited respect Fisher 3 for human uniqueness. That being said, I do agree with some of his concepts like being able to love and hate someone at the same time; I can relate this with family members at times. Majority of his psychology also stood out to me in a good way; for example, his theories about family relation structuring who you are and the repetition affect. These ideas have helped me reconstruct my view of love because I can now understand how my own sexuality has been designed over time and why I act how I act. Another main concept that has altered my view on love is Lysias support for non-lovers in Phaedrus. “He cannot complain about love’s making him neglect.”(21. Phaedrus. Plato). This quote shows how the non-lover doesn’t let pleasure personally effect his or her life directly. This is a stand out point to me because it has made me realize how big of a liability becoming emotionally attached really is. Another point that caught my eye was being in love making you intolerant to the other. I have never thought about this before, but it is true. I am a competitive person and with love comes imperceptible competition. This is an easy way to create emotions towards the other person that aren’t a pleasure to deal with such as anger, jealousy, or disappointment. Lysias list of advantages for non-lovers and the reality of Freud’s psychology have helped me develop a conclusion. Although the qualities of a non-lover are superior to a lovers, and I see logic behind them that I wish I could pursue, I am someone who will always be drawn to the divine sense of love because of a mix of human nature, personal beliefs, and past experiences. Most philosophers look at love as something that you don’t want to base your life on; the support is evident. That being said, others have displayed worthy support that has shown the benefits of love. Throughout the authentic works of Plato and Freud, legitimate concepts and theories are shown supporting the ideas for love being a necessary part of life and simply being a distraction. These perspectives have helped me alter my current view on love in a useful way. This is important because love has always, and always will be a compelling factor for the human race. Learning a deeper understanding on this topic can make a big difference, and surely benefit people in relevant situations. Fisher 4 Works Cited Freud, Sigmund. "Sexuality and the Psychology of Love." Http://www.lightoftheimagination.com/. Chrysoma Associates Ltd. Web. 20 Nov. 2015. <http://www.lightoftheimagination.com/Civilized Sexual Morality and Modern Nervousness Freud.pdf>. "Phaedrus." Www.gutenberg.org. 8 Oct. 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2015. <https://owl.uwo.ca/access/content/group/5195b5ff-eb00-48cd-be88-a76c2c24c9da/Phaedrus, by Plato.pdf>.