Love: A History

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Synopsis
&“What is love? May plunders Western poetry, philosophy and psychology to find answers . . . Thought-provoking stuff&” (The Sunday Telegraph). Love—unconditional, selfless, unchanging, sincere, and totally accepting—is worshipped today as the West&’s only universal religion. To challenge it is one of our few remaining taboos. In this path-breaking and superbly written book, philosopher Simon May does just that, dissecting our ideas of love and showing how they are the product of a long and powerful cultural heritage. Tracing over twenty-five hundred years of human thought and history, May shows how our idea of love developed from its Hebraic and Greek origins alongside Christianity until, during the last two centuries, &“God is love&” became &“love is God&”—so hubristic, so escapist, so untruthful to the real nature of love, that it has booby-trapped relationships everywhere with deluded expectations. Brilliantly, May explores the very different philosophers and writers, both skeptics and believers, who dared to think differently: from Aristotle&’s perfect friendship and Ovid&’s celebration of sex and &“the chase,&” to Rousseau&’s personal authenticity, Nietzsche&’s affirmation, Freud&’s concepts of loss and mourning, and boredom in Proust. Against our belief that love is an all-powerful solution to finding meaning, security, and happiness in life, May reveals with great clarity what love actually is—and what it means. &“The most persuasive account of love&’s nature I have ever read.&” —Financial Times &“Intellectually engaging . . . Provocative.&” —The Wall Street Journal
Copyright:
2011

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
Book Size:
304 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780300177237
Related ISBNs:
9780300187748
Publisher:
Yale University Press
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Simon May
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Nonfiction, Psychology, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics, Philosophy
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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