University of Central Florida STARS HIM 1990-2015 2012 The nature of love a phenomenological approach Samantha Schroeder University of Central Florida Part of the Philosophy Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses1990-2015 University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIM 1990-2015 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Schroeder, Samantha, "The nature of love a phenomenological approach" (2012). HIM 1990-2015. 1798. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses1990-2015/1798 Honors Thesis on The Nature of Love: A Phenomenological Approach by Samantha Schroeder _______________________________ _______________________________ Michael Strawser, Ph.D. Bruce Janz, Ph.D. Thesis Committee Chair Department Chair Department of Philosophy Department of Philosophy _______________________________ _______________________________ Sabatino DiBernardo, Ph.D. Alvin Wang, Ph.D. Thesis Committee Member Thesis Committee Member Department of Philosophy Department of Psychology _______________________________ Jason Danner, MA. Thesis Committee Member Department of Philosophy i Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................ vii Chapter One: The Role of the Affective Sphere ........................................................................................... 1 The Heart in Western Philosophy ....................................................................................................................... 2 Men without Chests ............................................................................................................................................ 4 The Tenor of the Heart ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Rehabilitation of the Heart ............................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter Two: The Ontology of Love ........................................................................................................... 13 Love on the Mind ............................................................................................................................................. 19 The Phenomenological Approach ....................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter Three: Max Scheler’s Stratification of the Emotional Life ......................................................... 26 Radically Individual Personhood ....................................................................................................................... 29 The Structure of Feeling .................................................................................................................................... 33 The Realm of Value ......................................................................................................................................... 34 Chapter Four: A Radical Reappraisal of Self-Love ..................................................................................... 39 Self-love in Scheler ............................................................................................................................................ 40 A Radical Love of Self? ................................................................................................................................... 44 Voices of Critique ............................................................................................................................................ 46 The Impossibility of Self-love in Marion ............................................................................................................ 50 Chapter Five: Dietrich von Hildebrand’s Phenomenology of Love ........................................................ 55 Value Phenomenology ....................................................................................................................................... 55 Attraction and Attachment .............................................................................................................................. 57 Irreducibility of the Other .................................................................................................................................. 62 Subjectivity and Objectivity in Love ................................................................................................................... 65 Chapter Six: Love’s Knowledge ..................................................................................................................... 67 The Morality of Love........................................................................................................................................ 71 The Metaphysical Beauty of Love ...................................................................................................................... 72 The Gift of Love .............................................................................................................................................. 79 The Overall Response to Value ........................................................................................................................ 81 Chapter Seven: The Ordo Amoris .................................................................................................................... 87 A Brief History................................................................................................................................................ 87 The Ordo Amoris and Value Realism .......................................................................................................... 88 ii Love as the Task of Philosophy ......................................................................................................................... 95 Loving and Being ............................................................................................................................................. 99 Conclusion: The Meaning of Love ............................................................................................................. 103 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................................................. 108 iii ABSTRACT Since the time of Socrates, the idea of love and the conception of the human heart have been devalued by thinkers who, by definition, are known as “lovers of wisdom.” Considered pejoratively as “the passions,” the subject of emotion was deemed inferior to thought centered upon the human faculty of reason. Many studies in the sciences, from biology to psychology, claim to have pointed us to the source of the human experience of love—but do they help us to understand love properly? In order to provide a full consideration of love in my philosophical research, I will focus my analysis on love under the philosophical lens of phenomenology. Known as the study of firsthand human experience, phenomenology became the influential school of thought for many German philosophers in the early twentieth century. My research will closely examine the writings of Max Scheler, Dietrich von Hildebrand, and Jean-Luc Marion within the context of this tradition. Moving from a justification of love in philosophy to the topic of self-love, I hope to define effectively what it means to love another. I shall also attempt to disambiguate the common assumptions regarding the nature of love. Is there a fundamental difference between the phenomenon of “falling in love” and of love itself? I question whether love, in its essence, is defined by the element of choice—of a willful emotional giving of oneself to another—and whether it can be distinguished from a passive feeling and an active loving will. I aim to bring the human affective sphere into the full light of philosophical inquiry, considering whether love is a moral act of the will that involves a total participation of the self—in mind, body, and spirit. Love is arguably the most powerful of the human emotions, one that elevates the human sphere of emotions and the ethical existence beyond simple desire. As I hope to show, a philosophical study of love is highly relevant today, since the sciences have not adequately answered the perennial question: What is love? iv DEDICATION In loving memory of Jake Gibbs. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To My family for allowing me to become who I am, My mother for handing me so many books in my youth, and for believing in me, Tyler for nourishing my philosophical eros and awakening my understanding of personalism, Dr. Nguyen for leading me to the path of philosophy, and Dr. Strawser for helping me continue on my journey. vi INTRODUCTION What is the nature of love, and how should it properly be spoken of in philosophical discourse? The meaning of the word philosophy is derived from two Greek words, philo meaning love, and sophia meaning wisdom, and yet the particular nature of the phenomenon of love has been a question neglected, ironically, by philosophers—those considered by definition to be lovers of wisdom. For many, love is a private topic of discussion, a notion