Theories of Love and Friendship

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Relationships and friendships have evolved significantly over the centuries.

Quality of life was influenced by accepted practices related to theories of love and friendship. Exploring Medieval Europe and modern day approaches to relationships provide a clear illustration of how relationships have positively evolved over time.

Theories of love and friendship have emerged from the early medieval period over 2000 years ago with notable theories from Plato and Aristotle. Plato (428-348 or 347 B.C.) was an ancient Greek Philosopher and pivotal figure in the history of western thought. Plato developed the idealist concepts of love theory and defined Eros. In this concept, he did not consider the physical attraction to be an essential component to achieving love. Plato believed that the beauty within was the purist form of love. He believed that an individual’s need for happiness is fulfilled by participating in a process of achieving goodness, which leads one to a complete life. During this medieval period marriages were arranges, men controlled women, and girls were given to marry as young as 12 years old. Yet, people still managed to fall in love. Perhaps, this is because of the goodness and clarity of the theory and practice.

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Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), a student of Plato, developed the classical view of friendship. He differentiates between genuine friendship and two other kinds of friendship based on mutual usefulness and pleasure. The latter two forms of friendship were circumstantial and time limited. However, genuine friendship is based on goodness and is permanent. These types of relationships were seen as central in living a good life. Mis...

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... offers the greatest quality of life.

Works Cited

Bibilography

"Eros (concept)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. .

Routh, Michael. Aldous Huxley: Brave New World. Beirut: York, 1991. Print.

"Love Theories - Major Theories of Love." Psychology - Complete Guide to Psychology for Students, Educators & Enthusiasts. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. .

Rathus, Spencer A. Holt Psychology Principles in Practice. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2007. Print.

Tennov, Dorothy. Love and Limerence: the Experience of Being in Love. New York: Stein and Day, 1979. Print.

View, Plato. Mountain. "Plato - Encyclopedia Article - Citizendium." Welcome to Citizendium - Citizendium. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. .

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