philosophy

Some people believe that there is no such thing as "true love" they believe that love is nothing but an illusion designed by social expectations. These people believe that love ultimately turns into pain and despair. This idea in some ways is true. Love is not eternal it will come to an end one way or another, but the aspect that separates true love from illusion, is the way love ends. "True Love" is much too powerful to be destroyed by Human imperfection; it may only be destroyed by a force equal to the power of love. Diotima believed that "Love is wanting to posses the good forever" In other words love is the desire to be immortal and the only way that we are able to obtain immortality is through reproduction, and since the act of reproduction is a form of sexual love, then sexual love is in fact a vital part of "True love". Sexual love is not eternal. This lust for pleasure will soon fade, but the part of love that is immortal, is a plutonic love. You can relate this theory to the birth of love that Diotima talks about. She says that love was born by a mortal mother and immortal father. The mother represents the sexual love, the lust for pleasure. The father represents the plutonic love that is immortal. Plutonic love is defined as a true friendship, the purest of all relationships. A true plutonic love will never die; it transcends time, space, and even death.

Platonic love is in my opinion, the most important and vital aspect of love. Without platonic love people are incapable of actually knowing the object of their desire. If no was able to have a platonic love, then the world would full over people how only desired physical pleasure, instead of that "greater good" that Diotima speaks of. This notion would agree with Rusoue theory of "free love." Rusoue believed that there is no such thing as a "greater good" and all love is, is just a need to feel pleasure, instead of a need to be loved. I disagree completely with Rusoue. I refuse to believe that love is driven solely by lust. This idea in my opinion is completely ludicrous.

Love is the most mystifying and complex emotion that we have. What's the difference between Platonic love, and Sexual love? Which love is real? What does it really mean when someone says those three words "I love you?" It's a common misconception that one is separate from the other, when in fact these two concepts go hand in hand. It's not possible for someone to truly be in love with another if they only have a sexually attraction. The only thing a sexual attraction is is a raw physical lust or desire, for a pleasure, that is not attainable by the limited expectations of a platonic love, therefore rendering this notion unworthy of the title, love.

Perhaps there is no such thing as sexual love. Maybe the only real and true love is a plutonic love. But then again how can platonic love be the only true love if the love is restricted by the boundaries that a plutonic love implies. Love is too powerful to be suppressed by social standards. So then again I ask, what is love? Perhaps love could be a means of escaping the emotional isolation that we desperately try to escape. Have you ever noticed how you could be around hundreds of people yet, still feel lonely? We are born into this dark tunnel, ignorant and alone. Sometimes the most popular people are in fact the loneliest of all because they don't have any real companions or better yet, that plutonic love. This love is the light at the end of the tunnel, with this we can see are way out, but we lack the desire, that need to feel alive, the need to feel pleasure, both physically and mentally. Then finally, we can find that person who embodies our desires and passions. Then, and only then, do we find that other soul, that other person in that dark tunnel; your soul mate.