Love is one of the most profound emotions that we, as human beings, feel in our lives. It is present in the movies and the TV series we watch, in the songs we write or hear in the radio, as well as in the literature we read or write. The importance and the relevance of love as a common topic has been this way from centuries ago. In this paper I am going to analyze the philosophical topic of love by taking into consideration Plato’s point of view, the different types of love and their representations in Oscar Wilde’s stories and in the book 1984 by George Orwell. To comprehend love we should begin with understanding the three different conceptions of love that has been developed in philosophy. The first is Eros, which refers to the part of
…show more content…
In the Symposium, a couple of characters discuss the guiding nature of Love: “[We will find wholeness] if Love is our guide and our commander,” says Aristophanes; (Plato 1997, 476) “There is a certain guidance each person needs for his whole life,” says Phaedrus, “if he is to live well; and nothing imparts this guidance…as well as Love;” (Plato 1997, 463). This proves one of the main objections discussed against Plato’s belief of Love, which is the selfishness that it’s involve. When referring to the world selfish I am not referring to it in the common negative sense of depriving others from certain wanted factors but in the sense of mare self-interest with no negative intention. I believe Plato’s idea of love it is selfish since for him love is not an act done for the other person’s good or sake, or for a mutual grow but is done only to achieve your own development and obtain any good the other person may provide …show more content…
In the story, Winston found himself in a love triangle involving Julia and O’Brien. However, the type of love he has for each one of them is completely different. Winston’s love for O’Brien is completely intellectual. “When Winston’s eyes and O’Brien’s eyes met for a fraction of a second, Winston knew that O’Brien was thinking the same thing and that he was on his side.” (Orwell 1949,) He develops and admiration towards O’Brien in the beginning of the book by believing he has some of the things he lack of. Things such as: being an Inner Party member that belonged in the Brotherhood and that was aware of the truth and the reality of Oceania, as well as having access to many more answers than him. Also, Winston didn’t care that the love between them two wasn’t mutual or that they relationship at first was base merely on one encounter that occurred during his dreams. For him, O’Brien was his guide and he was just a follower. However, Winston love for Julia was not intellectual at all. His love for her was completely physical, which can be describe as the common definition of Eros (not the Platonic definition). Its physical attraction as well as erotic lust which for Orwell is just as good because it maintains Winston’s perspective of reality. However, for the Party it wasn’t good at all since it created a world and a perspective that they weren’t able to control which is why sexual
In the Symposium, a couple of characters discuss the guiding nature of Love: “[We will find wholeness] if Love is our guide and our commander,” says Aristophanes; (Plato 1997, 476) “There is a certain guidance each person needs for his whole life,” says Phaedrus, “if he is to live well; and nothing imparts this guidance…as well as Love;” (Plato 1997, 463). This proves one of the main objections discussed against Plato’s belief of Love, which is the selfishness that it’s involve. When referring to the world selfish I am not referring to it in the common negative sense of depriving others from certain wanted factors but in the sense of mare self-interest with no negative intention. I believe Plato’s idea of love it is selfish since for him love is not an act done for the other person’s good or sake, or for a mutual grow but is done only to achieve your own development and obtain any good the other person may provide …show more content…
In the story, Winston found himself in a love triangle involving Julia and O’Brien. However, the type of love he has for each one of them is completely different. Winston’s love for O’Brien is completely intellectual. “When Winston’s eyes and O’Brien’s eyes met for a fraction of a second, Winston knew that O’Brien was thinking the same thing and that he was on his side.” (Orwell 1949,) He develops and admiration towards O’Brien in the beginning of the book by believing he has some of the things he lack of. Things such as: being an Inner Party member that belonged in the Brotherhood and that was aware of the truth and the reality of Oceania, as well as having access to many more answers than him. Also, Winston didn’t care that the love between them two wasn’t mutual or that they relationship at first was base merely on one encounter that occurred during his dreams. For him, O’Brien was his guide and he was just a follower. However, Winston love for Julia was not intellectual at all. His love for her was completely physical, which can be describe as the common definition of Eros (not the Platonic definition). Its physical attraction as well as erotic lust which for Orwell is just as good because it maintains Winston’s perspective of reality. However, for the Party it wasn’t good at all since it created a world and a perspective that they weren’t able to control which is why sexual