The Reasons of Love

A clear, accessible exploration of how and why we love by prominent philosopher and bestselling author Harry FrankfurtIn The Reasons of Love, leading moral philosopher and bestselling author Harry Frankfurt argues that the key to a fulfilled life is to pursue wholeheartedly what one cares about, that love is the most authoritative form of caring, and that the purest form of love is, in a complicated way, self-love.Through caring, we infuse the world with meaning. Caring provides us with stable ambitions and concerns; it shapes the framework of aims and interests within which we lead our lives. Frankfurt goes on to explain that the most important form of caring is love, a nonvoluntary, disinterested concern for the flourishing of what is loved. And he contends that the purest form of love is self-love. This sounds perverse, but self-love-as distinct from self-indulgence-is at heart a disinterested concern for whatever it is that the person loves. The most elementary form of self-love is nothing more than the desire of a person to love. Insofar as this is true, self-love is simply a commitment to finding meaning in our lives.

“"Well worth reading." --Berel Dov Lerner, Practical Philosophy”

“A pleasure to read. . . . Its literary qualities . . . resemble the sharp lines and bright colors of a fine Mondrian or the austere elegance of good modernist architecture. . . . [A] comprehensive statement of the mature views of one of the most creative philosophers of his generation.”—Philip L. Quinn, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
“[Frankfurt’s] little book provides the rare pleasure of witnessing an agile and sensitive mind grappling with an issue of universal importance.”—Eric Ormsby, New York Sun
“Well worth reading.”—Berel Dov Lerner, Practical Philosophy
“A thought-provoking work that should appeal to those interested in love, practical reasoning, and questions concerning the good life.”—Jason Kawall, Philosophy in Review

Harry G. Frankfurt (19292023) was professor of philosophy emeritus at Princeton University. His books include the #1 New York Times bestseller On Bullshit, On Inequality, and Demons, Dreamers, and Madmen (all Princeton).

A clear, accessible exploration of how and why we love by prominent philosopher and bestselling author Harry FrankfurtIn The Reasons of Love, leading moral philosopher and bestselling author Harry Frankfurt argues that the key to a fulfilled life is to pursue wholeheartedly what one cares about, that love is the most authoritative form of caring, and that the purest form of love is, in a complicated way, self-love.Through caring, we infuse the world with meaning. Caring provides us with stable ambitions and concerns; it shapes the framework of aims and interests within which we lead our lives. Frankfurt goes on to explain that the most important form of caring is love, a nonvoluntary, disinterested concern for the flourishing of what is loved. And he contends that the purest form of love is self-love. This sounds perverse, but self-love-as distinct from self-indulgence-is at heart a disinterested concern for whatever it is that the person loves. The most elementary form of self-love is nothing more than the desire of a person to love. Insofar as this is true, self-love is simply a commitment to finding meaning in our lives.

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