Is there such a concept as "Aristotelian love"? - as we know there is "Platonic love"... If so, what's it like? And if there isn't, what could it be like? Lou from Barcelona

Comments

Plato had much to say about love and sexual desire in his dialogues Symposium and Phaedrus and elsewhere (e.g., Laws, Lysis, Republic). What we call "Platonic Love," however, may bear little resemblance to what Plato had in mind; "Platonic Love" might be a medieval or Neoplatonist corruption or variation of Plato's own ideas. Be that as it may, we don't talk about "Aristotelian Love" because it is a mouthful. Aristotle did talk about "love," in the sense of friendship, using the Greek word "philia" instead of Plato's word of choice, "eros." For Aristotle's account of friendship, see his Nicomachean Ethics; the relevant passages, as well as commentary, can be found in my Eros, Agape, and Philia. Also take a look at Gilbert Meilaender's "When Harry and Sally Read the Nicomachean Ethics: Friendship between Men and Women," in Leroy S. Rouner, ed., The Changing Face of Friendship (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994), pp. 183-96. You might also want to think about the similarities and differences between the ancient Greek Aristotle on friendship and the Renaissance writer Michel Montaigne on friendship.

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