Romantic Love

Romantic Love - questions to consider and discuss

What is romantic love?
To what extent is RL something that happens to us and to what extent is it an attitude we decide to adopt towards another?
1. How, if at all, does that change over time?
Are there barriers to our being able to decide to love any autonomous, competent, adult person we choose? eg pheromonal discord?
Is overpowering infatuation a passing, initial phase for everyone or only for some? Do some never experience it? Do some never cease experiencing it?
1. Other than in an infatuation phase, what differences are there between romantic and non-romantic love other than sexual interaction forming part of the relationship? Are these differences important? Does their importance change over time? eg does a 90-year old woman feel differently about her husband from how she feels about her 65-year old daughter?
2. What harmful effects, if any, can romantic love have, on the lover, the beloved, and on others, including society as a whole?
3. What beneficial effects, if any, can romantic love have, on the lover, the beloved, and on others, including society as a whole?
4. When teenagers ask whether the love they feel for someone is 'true love' (aka 'the real thing'), what do they mean? Is the distinction they are trying to make between different types of feelings 'real' or is it an illusion? If it is real, what is the distinction?
5. What are the relative merits of unforced arranged marriages compared to marriages 'for love'?

Here's a list of materials. Some veer off into considering more general love than just the romantic type.

The Guardian - five short opinions on 'what is love?'

About.com short opinion on 'what is love?'

Wikipedia on Romance (Love):

iep on Love

YOUTUBE: Fiddler on the Roof - middle-aged couple Teviye and Golde ask each other - 'Do you love me?'

PODCAST: Philosophy Bites. Three short podcasts on the following page about love (one about Plato's Symposium)