Wagoner commences his postulation that love is celebrated everywhere as one of the most significant experiences of the human life. Love is in nature in every aspect of life. It is unfortunate that the same way love brings joy is the same manner it leads to suffering. The author makes a claim that nobody can argue about love. The same way the presence of love in nature can fill life with purpose and meaning is the same way the absence of love can make life and the world to be compared to an empty desert. Love is one of the most significant vigors that drives life on the world and without the drive, there would be no focus. According to Wagoner, “Love never ends. That is, it transcends. Because it is possessed by nothing it can reach beyond everything. Because it is tied to no natural or temporal state it is limitless in what it can do.” (Wagoner, 43)
Beyond the love of wisdom of philosophers, it may seem doubtful of much they have concerning the subject. A philosopher, for instance, Wagoner defines love as an abstract noun but to some schools of thoughts, it is a sensible word that is not attached to anything. Others consider it as the means of human beings and the world are affected irrevocably when they come into contact with the feeling of love. To many, love is has been left in the realm of the ineffable.
The enormous and unavoidable role played by love in the cultures of the world is deniable. It is incorporated in films, songs, and even novels just because of what it means n the society. Seriously or humorously, love has been considered as an important theme for the youth and a vibrant theme of maturing life. Since the ancient times of Greeks, philosophically, the nature of love has been has proved to be a mainstay of in philosophy leading to the generation and formulation of theories ranging from theories of love as an intensively spiritual affair that allows the humanity to touch divinity as its highest to theories of the materialistic con caption of love as a complete physical phenomena.
The Nature of Love
To some, love is conceptually irrational insinuating that it can neither be described in meaningful or rational prepositions. However, philosophical discussions have it that love has nature. The people opposing the nature of love incorporates epistemological and metaphysical argument that love may be an injection of motions defying the rational examination negating the possibility of philosophical examination. The relation and social interaction of people in the society are attributed to and reflect the understand ding of the reflection of the love between the two. The two main natures of love are the romantic love and the Christian love.
Romantic Love
Wagoner considers romantic love as part of love which constitutes an intense and passionate desire for something. Philosophy refers to romantic love is a common desire of a person seeking transcendental beauty compared to the true beauty existing in ideas and forms. The Socratic position concerning the romantic love maintains that the love generated in this world out of beauty and passion over something cannot be depleted neither can it be truly satisfied until death.
In his publication, The Meaning of Love, Wagoner states that “To everyone but the lover this appears as absolute madness, but to the lover the utter irrationality of this feeling is self-validating. It needs no other justification; it has no other support.” (Wagoner, 66) Romantic loving is the loving in the Plutonic manner and not a particular individual but not the true element that they possess.
However possessive love is, human should aspire past the stimulating image to the contemplation of the real beauty in life. The implication of philosophy such as the Plutonic theory of eros is that the ideal theory reflected in the specific images of beauty is interchangeable across art, ideas, and people. According to Wagoner, reciprocity is not necessary since the desire is for the object of beauty.
Christian Love
The Christian love also referred to as the agape love is the paternal love of the Almighty for a man of God and for man. The Christian love, however, is extended to include the brotherly love to everyone. The Christian love is based on the teaching of the Bible and the Ten Commandments. Even in the Bible, love was present and was given to the first human being by God. It is considered as the appreciation of one another in the society. Unlike romantic love, Christian love exists in all aspects of humanity such as gender and race.
The composition of Christian love draws some elements of the romantic love in the establishment of the perfect kind of love that is a passion without reciprocity, a transcending of the particular and fondles. The Christian love requires the absolute devotion that is reminiscent of the philosophical love of beauty developing into erotic passion desires and awe that extends to the earthly obstacles and care. Christian love is not jurisdictional and allows for free interaction just as postulated b Wagoner that, “This kind of love, in other words, is free from possessiveness, either of the other or of oneself. I can act freely, without either envy or resentment. I can cherish the freedom of the other because my own freedom is not in doubt.” (Wagoner, 43)
The understanding of the relation between two individuals is attributed to the conception of the Christian love and the romantic love. Wagoner states that “At the heart of the courtly tradition is the fundamental recognition that love is the free gift of the other.” (Wagoner, 65). The celebration of love in all, the cultures and traditions add more vigor on the significance of love in the society. Love is widespread and so is the confusion and contradiction that comes with it. In The meaning of love, Wagoner asks, “How can such a great human good have so many unintended consequences and be so hard to understand? If "Love is all you need," as the Beatles used to sing. Why does it seem to go wrong so often? Why does something that seems so clear involve so many contradictions? How can something that means so much to me be so much out of my control? Try as we might, we do not seem to understand love very well.” (Wagoner 1)
The confusion that is brought about by love is attributed to the different perceptions that people have towards the nature of love. The confusion extends to the comprehension of the relationship between two people in the society. However, with the proper knowledge of the love existing between the parties, the confusion can be addressed. For instance, the Christian love depicted in the relation between two people can be taken by the society to mean a friendship. The two might be friends meant to help each other or just to pass time. Contrary to the Christian love, the romantic love in the society insinuates a totally different thing. It is the implication of erotic relation between the two. It shows the deeper obsession and connection of the two with regards to desire and accomplishment one emotional feelings existing been them. It is based on this that it is proper to attribute that the conceptions of Christian love and romantic love reflect our understanding of relationships between two people in the society
Conclusion
One of the best thing about love is that it adds more meaning to life despite the price that always has to be paid. As mentioned in the publication, the author attributes that free love is oxymoron and b as such, it comes with a price. As implicated by the various terminologies and explanations of love, it might be true that it indeed comes with a price. The existence of the human and the peaceful socialization is subject to the love that exists in nature. Love is natural and its existence is not a matter of discussion since it all depends on the love one is referring to at a particular moment. Christian love should be regarded as the basis for morality in the society. It does not refer to the love between the human beings but also the love between the man and the environment. The relationship between two people is facilitated by the love existing between the individuals. The understanding of people also is commanded by the love between the two. The agape love shown by the two could be taken to insinuate a different kind of relationship compared to the romantic love that means a deeper and passionate understanding of one another.
Work Cited
Wagoner, Bob. "The meanings of love: An introduction to philosophy of love." (1997).
