The Art of Loving, PDF

The Art of Loving (Erich Fromm, 1956) → A case for love as a skill to be honed by the way artists apprentice themselves to work on the way to mastery; demanding its practitioner of both knowledge and effort. Fromm stated the following in his book:...

The Art of Loving (Erich Fromm, 1956) → A case for love as a skill to be honed by the way artists apprentice themselves to work on the way to mastery; demanding its practitioner of both knowledge and effort. Fromm stated the following in his book: ▪ People think that to love is easy and what is difficult is to find the right person to love or be loved by. ▪ We give more importance to being loved than to loving. ▪ We confuse the initial falling-in-love with the permanent state of being-in-love. Loneliness is one of the most basic experiences of the human being because of self- awareness. It is a phenomenon that belongs to life and existence – something we all recognize. There are a lot of ways by which people address loneliness: 15  Escapism Use of drugs, rituals, sex, and alcohol to find one’s self. Conformity with groups Joining group, organization, club, or fraternity Creative and productive Planning, producing, and seeing the result of a hobby, work or activity pastime, or passion. Essential characteristics of love: a. Love is historical because the other is a concrete particular person with his / her own being history. b. Love is total because persons are indivisible. c. Love is eternal because love is not given only for a limited period of time. d. Love is sacred because in love, persons are valuable in themselves. Philosophy implies that love has a “nature”. → The word love is derived from Germanic forms of Sanskrit lubh (desire), is broadly defined and hence imprecise: this is resolved by the reference to Greek terms eros, philia, and agape. Eros is affectionate love that tends to be possessive and intimate. → It is also used to refer to that part of love that constitutes a passionate and intense desire for something. ▪ It is often referred to as sexual love, hence the modern notion “erotic”. ✔ In Plato’s writings, eros is held to be a common desire that seeks transcendental beauty. ▪ It is limited, conditioned, and pre-eminently calculating. Philia is about special friendships where people share intimacy and equality with trust and respect for each other. → It entails a fondness and appreciation for the other. ▪ For the Greeks, the term philia is incorporated to loyalty to family. ✔ It cannot emanate from those who are quarrelsome, unjust, and so on. Agape is a non-possessive love and concern for the well-being of others. → It is a selfless love for humanity and the will of the self in ‘devotion to neighbor’. ▪ It refers to the paternal love of God for man, and man for God, but is extended to include a brotherly love for all humanity. 16  ▪ It draws elements from both eros and philia that seeks a perfect kind of love that is at once a fondness, transcending of the particular, and a passion without the necessity of reciprocity. Storge is the love found in families. → It is the love of parent for child, and child for parent, ▪ It is the fondness or affection for someone that grows through shared values or experiences; in other words, familiarity. ✔ It occurs naturally. 17