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PHIL 201 (STOLZE). Notes on Massimo Pigliucci , Answers for Aristotle , chapters 11-12. Key Concepts in Chapter Eleven. The Ancient Greek Classification of Three Types of Love: Eros = sexual attraction Philia = love needed in order to get along with other people, e.g., friendship
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PHIL 201 (STOLZE) Notes on Massimo Pigliucci, Answers for Aristotle, chapters 11-12
Key Concepts in Chapter Eleven • The Ancient Greek Classification of Three Types of Love: • Eros= sexual attraction • Philia= love needed in order to get along with other people, e.g., friendship • Agapē= unconditional, self-sacrificing love • Four (Perhaps Overlapping) Modern Philosophical Conceptions of Love (pp. 160-164): • Love as a “robust concern” • Love as valuing the other • Love as a union • Love as an emotion • Pigliucci argues in this chapter that the new “science of love” can explain what the anthropologist Helen Fisher has called the three phases of erosbut cannot provide a philosophical justification for philia or agapē (see a talk by Fisher summarizing her research: www.ted.com/talks/helen_fisher_tells_us_why_we_love_cheat.html) • See also The Love Competition: www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=3036 • Frank Turner, “Recovery” (all three phases wrapped into one song!): www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1L5zJ2afLs
Key Issues in Chapter Twelve • Three major factors affecting our happiness: • Our “set point” (50%) • Our circumstances in life (10%) • What we actively do about it (40%) • The science of friendship • Aristotle on three types of friendship: • Based on pleasure • Based on utility • Based on virtue • The need for persons “to present themselves to the world, to communicate, and yes, to engage in (mostly harmless) social exhibitionism” (pp. 181-182) • Virtual friends through social media vs. the trust, intimacy, and significant investment of time required for actual friendships