Conditions of Love: The Philosophy of Intimacy
In this meditative but somewhat murky philosophical account of love, Armstrong aims to develop a "mature conception" of the emotion by exploring a different love-related theme in each chapter of this slim volume. He critiques Plato's "myth of original unity," suggesting that the right attitude may more important than the right person; contemplates Stendahl's beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder theory of "crystallization"; and ponders love's relationship to charity, the meaning of life and, much too briefly, sexuality. In general, the goal seems to be a gathering of miscellaneous and diverse ideas from thinkers, novelists, and artists from Augustine to Freud put to service towards a study of our most powerful emotion. Armstrong calls this approach "pandoxist," which at its best is breezy and refreshing, and at its worst seems to be an excuse for not examining views critically enough. Armstrong's primary focus is on long-term romantic love (i.e., between sexual partners), but he often veers into discussing fraternal, parental, divine, and altruistic love, and he takes a page from Wittgenstein to argue that there is no one essence uniting all the ways we use the word love. Unlike, say, Ted Cohen's Jokes, a philosophical study of jokes that is itself funny, this book is neither romantic nor sexy. But it is an interesting perspective on the problem of love-one that ultimately feels more personal than philosophical.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.