People and epochs changed, and in every century, love was understood differently. To this day, philosophy is trying to answer a difficult question: where does this wonderful feeling come from?
Eros
Love, from the point of view of the philosophy of Plato, is different. He divides Eros into 2 hypostases: high and low. Earth Eros personifies the lowest manifestation of human feelings. This is passion and lust, the desire to possess the things and destinies of people at all costs. Plato's philosophy considers such love as a factor hindering the development of the human person, as something vile and vulgar.
Eros celestial, in contrast to the destructive earthly, personifies development. He is the creative principle, Germanizing life, the unity of opposites is manifested in him. Eros of heaven does not deny possible physical contact between people, but in the first place still puts forward the spiritual principle. Hence the concept of platonic love. Feelings for development, not for possession.
Androgynous
In his philosophy of love, Plato is not the last place devotes to the myth of androgynous. Once upon a time, man was completely different. He had 4 arms and legs, and his head looked with two identical 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 have been wandering in search of a part of themselves. And only those lucky ones who find the second part of themselves finally receive peace and live in harmony with themselves and the world.
The androgyne myth is an important part of the doctrine of harmony. The love of man is the philosophy of Plato puts in a series of exalted feelings. But this only applies to true 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 takes on a religious color. God himself, for the sake of love for 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 in this way could it be considered true. Love for God was intended to replace all other human preferences.
Christian propaganda completely distorted man’s love for man, she completely reduced her to vice and lust. Here you can observe 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 family. In itself, the conception and appearance of man is sinful.
Rozanov
The Russian philosophy of love is born thanks to V. Rozanov. He is the first to address this topic among Russian 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 without love truth is impossible.
Rozanov criticizes the monopolization of love by the Christian church. He notes that this contributes to a violation of morality. Relations with the opposite sex are an integral part of life that cannot be so rudely cut off 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
V. Soloviev is a follower of Rozanov, but brings his vision to his teaching. He returns to the Platonic concept of androgyne. Love from the point of view of Soloviev’s philosophy is a two-way act of man and woman. But he gives the concept of androgyne a new understanding. The presence of 2 sexes, so very different from each other, speaks of human imperfection.
Such a strong attraction of the sexes to each other, including physical proximity, is nothing more than a desire to unite again. Only together can both sexes become a single whole 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 the second part of yourself.
