People and eras have changed, and love has been understood differently in every century. Philosophy to this day tries to answer the difficult question: where does this wonderful feeling come from?
Eros
Love, from the point of view of Plato's philosophy, is different. He divides Eros into 2 hypostases: high and low. The earthly Eros personifies the lowest manifestation of human feelings. This is passion and lust, the desire to possess the things and destinies of people at any cost. Plato's philosophy considers such love as a factor hindering the development of the human personality, as something vile and vulgar.
Heavenly Eros, as opposed to destructive earthly, personifies development. It is a creative principle that germanizes life; the unity of opposites is manifested in it. Heavenly Eros does not deny the possible physical contact between people, but nevertheless puts forward the spiritual principle in the first place. This is where the concept of platonic love comes from. Feelings for development, not for possession.
Androgynous
In his philosophy of love, Plato gives not the last place to the myth of androgynes. Once upon a time, man was completely different. He had 4 arms and legs, and his head looked like two completelyidentical faces in different directions. These ancient people were very strong and decided to argue with the gods for primacy. But the gods terribly punished the daring androgynes, dividing each into 2 halves. Since then, the unfortunate wander in search of a part of themselves. And only those lucky ones who find a second part of themselves finally get peace and live in harmony with themselves and the world.
The myth of androgynes is an important part of the doctrine of harmony. Philosophy of Plato elevates human love to a number of sublime feelings. But this applies only to real and mutual love, because one of the parts of the whole cannot not love the other.
Middle Ages
The concept of love in the philosophy of the Middle Ages acquires a religious color. God himself, for the love of all mankind, sacrificed himself for the atonement of universal sin. And since then, in Christianity, love has become associated with self-sacrifice and self-denial. Only then could it be considered true. The love of God was meant to replace all other human preferences.
Christian propaganda has completely distorted the love of man for man, it has completely reduced it to vice and lust. Here you can see a kind of conflict. On the one hand, love between people is considered sinful, and sexual intercourse is almost a demonic act. But at the same time, the church encourages the institution of marriage and the family. In itself, the conception and birth of a person is sinful.
Rozanov
Russian philosophy of love is born thanks to V. Rozanov. He is the first to address this topic among domestic philosophers. For him, this feeling is the purest and most sublime. He identifies love with the concept of beauty and truth. Rozanov goes further and directly declares that truth is impossible without love.
Rozanov criticizes the monopolization of love by the Christian Church. He notes that this contributes to the violation of morality. Relations with the opposite sex are an integral part of life, which cannot be cut off so roughly or formalized by procreation. Christianity pays excessive attention directly to sexual intercourse, not noticing their spiritual background. Rozanov perceives the love of a man and a woman as a single, generic principle. It is she who drives the world and the development of mankind.
Soloviev
B. Solovyov is a follower of Rozanov, but he brings his vision into his teaching. He returns to the Platonic concept of the androgyne. Love, from the point of view of Solovyov's philosophy, is a bilateral act of a man and a woman. But he gives the concept of androgyne a new meaning. The presence of 2 sexes, so different from each other, speaks of human imperfection.
Such a strong attraction of the sexes to each other, to physical intimacy as well, is nothing but a desire to unite again. Only together can both sexes become one again and harmonize themselves and the space around. That is why there are so many unhappy people in the world, because it is very difficult to find a second part of yourself.
Berdyaev
According to his teachings, gender creates conflict, separating people. The parts, like magnets, strive to connect and find love. Berdyaev's philosophy, following Plato's, speaks of the duality of love. It is bestial, it is simple lust. But it can also elevate to the heights of the perfection of the spirit. He says that after mass Christianization, it is necessary to rehabilitate the attitude towards sexual love.
Overcoming gender and gender differences is not a union, but, on the contrary, a clear understanding of the functions of each sex. Only this can open the creative beginning and develop the individuality of each person to the fullest. It is in love for the opposite sex and intimacy that the masculine and feminine principles are most clearly manifested. It is love that binds the body and spirit and at the same time elevates and elevates a person to a new level of spiritual development.
Yet the division of love into carnal and spiritual is not accidental. The extreme indulgence of lust and the flesh has already ruined ancient Rome. Endless casual sexual relationships are tired of everyone. Perhaps this was the reason for such a tough attitude towards intimate relationships in the Christian religion. The concept of "love" philosophy at all times ex alted and considered the basis of life and development. It does not matter in relation to whom this love is - for a person or for a higher being. The main thing is that love should not be replaced by lust, this is what Greek philosophers and our domestic thinkers are talking about.
