Evocative exploration of love's cultural evolution.
If the intricate tapestry of love's history intrigues you, then Simon May's "Love: A History" could be your next great read. This book weaves together the philosophical, cultural, and historical threads that have shaped our current understanding of love. It's thought-provoking and challenges conventional wisdom, offering a fresh perspective on an emotion that has captivated humanity for millennia.
ISBN: 9780300118308
Authors:
Simon May
Publisher: Yale University Press
Date of Publication: 2011-07-19
Format: Hardcover
Related Topics:
History
Goodreads rating: 3.82
(rated by 212 readers)
Description
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 pathbreaking and superbly written book, philosopher Simon May does just that, dissecting our resilient ruling ideas of love and showing how they are the product of a long and powerful cultural heritage. Tracing over 2,500 years of human thought and history, May shows how our ideal 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 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 the intense desire for someone whom we believe can ground and affirm our very existence. The feeling that "makes the world go round" turns out to be
Condition guide
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*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.
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*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.
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*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.
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Evocative exploration of love's cultural evolution.
If the intricate tapestry of love's history intrigues you, then Simon May's "Love: A History" could be your next great read. This book weaves together the philosophical, cultural, and historical threads that have shaped our current understanding of love. It's thought-provoking and challenges conventional wisdom, offering a fresh perspective on an emotion that has captivated humanity for millennia.
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