On Love

Freud and Lewis both wrote extensively on love. Their ideas were rooted in their worldview. Worldviews typically fall into one of two categories - materialistic or supernatural. Freud embraced materialism, Lewis the supernatural. Whichever worldview you hold, be consistent. Consistency will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of your worldview.  Both Freud and Lewis are influential today.  Freud took a materialistic view of love. It was all sexual, but divided into two categories: genital love and aim-inhibited love. Aim-inhibited love is any type of love not leading to coitus and reproduction. Freud had difficulty understanding sacrificial love.  Lewis had no problem with sacrificial love. His ideas pick up where Freud leaves off. Lewis said there were two types of love - gift love and need love. Sacrificial love is gift love.  Storge is the natural affection we feel for the good things of life. Philia is friendship. Eros is passionate love. Sex without eros is all about the self. With eros, the focus is on the Beloved. Agape is Divine Love. Sacrificial love is agape. Agape transforms our experience of the first three kinds of love.