About this episode
Everyone wants love, but no one can tell you exactly what love is. In this episode, we deep dive into seven philosophical perspectives on love, ranging from the Ancient Greeks to the existentialists. If you’re curious whether Plato thought soulmates were real or Kierkegaard would tell you to text your ex, this episode is for you. EPISODE OUTLINE 00:00 Intro (the philosophy of love) 03:19 What even is love? (hypotheticals on love) 07:07 Ancient Greek philosophy on love 07:35 Origins of the concept of soulmates (Plato’s The Symposium ) 09:03 Socrates’ ladder of love 13:03 Enlightenment thinkers on love 13:15 Love as social performance (Rousseau) 13:58 Rousseau’s two types of self love 15:22 How self love affects how you love others 17:31 The humanity formula (Kant) 19:49 Practical vs. passionate love (Kant) 22:07 Love as a trick (Schopenhauer) 24:04 Why do opposites attract? (Schopenhauer) 24:28 Is love just biological encouragement to reproduce? (Schopenhauer) 26:06 Existentialists on love 26:14 The tension between love and freedom of choice (Sartre) 27:50 Love as an objectifying force (Sartre) 30:32 Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir’s non-monogamous love story 31:40 The relationship between love and possession (de Beauvoir) 33:06 How your fear of being seen impacts your ability to give and receive love (Sartre, Doestoevsky, de Beauvoir) 36:54 Kierkegaard’s Works of Love 37:22 Unreasonable standards in love (Kierkegaard) 42:24 Lightning round recap MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Plato, The Symposium (c. 385–370 BCE) Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract (1762) Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785) Immanuel Kant, The Metaphysics of Morals (1797) Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation (1818) Søren Kierkegaard, Works of Love (1847) Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground (1864) Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness (1943) Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit (1944) Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (1949) Gordon Marino, The Existentialist’s Survival Guide (2018) MY LINKS MAKE BELIEVE is out everywhere now Get a signed copy of MAKE BELIEVE from Blue Willow Bookshop (write “REQUEST FOR SIGNED COPY” in the order notes!) Join the waitlist for future retreats! Practice yoga with me at Shanti Yoga Houston on the last Sunday of every month! Find me @thedailyvictorian on Instagram Find me @thedailyvictorian on TikTok