Ben Simon E.

Buhian BSAC 2

PHILO 15.1 ACB Mr. Joseph Enerio

You Cannot Love someone you do not know

Love is being questioned since the old times, not only by the professional philosophers but also by the people from all walks of life. Many people wrote articles about love and it shows that love is part and parcel of life. Many wrongly equates love with romance, others also pictured love as an act of possessing or being possessed by another person, it is also becomes synonymous with sex. The notion of love is attributed to three reasons, first is the emphasis on being-loved rather than on loving. Second, the emphasis on the object loved rather than the faculty of loving. Lastly is the confusion between the initial state of falling in love and the permanent standing-in love. Before criticizing the topic you cannot love someone you do not know we will first define love. Love is union under the condition of preserving ones integrity. Love is an act of power in man, a power which breaks through the walls which separate man from his fellowmen, which unites him with others. Love makes him overcome the sense of isolation and separateness, yet, permits him to be himself, to retain his integrity. In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one yet remain two.

In loving, the two persons involved must be mutual. The reciprocity of love explains that in loving others man had to be concerned with his self and his love to be authentic. The gift of myself must first be valuable to myself. In loving the other the desire to be loved in return exist. Man cannot love the other if he is sure that his offer will not be accepted. One does not give something he knows the other will not receive. In loving, the desire is essential but should never become the motive for loving; otherwise man loves the other not for what he is but for what he can get in return for himself. One cannot erase the possibility that the rejection of the beloved could be a test of the authenticity of love. If the other rejects the offer I persist in loving the other in spite of the pain, then perhaps my love is truly selfless, unmotivated by the desire to be loved in return. Starting from the definition, love is sharing myself with the others. There is a big question in this topic. How can you love a person whom you do not know its identity of who he is and what he is capable of doing. In loving, it must be mutual, you love other person and that other person loves you in return. If you do not know that person you cannot love him and that love is not present in your relationship but rather the friendship occurs in it. The persons involved in love are unique, irreplaceable beings and such are valuable in themselves. Love is the gift of a person of his own self to another person, if you give love to the person whom you do not know; you have no assurance that the person whom you loved will love you in return. The person whom you loved that you do not know is not worth it of your love. Love implies immortality and it catches a glimpse of eternity. This statement tells us that love is endless, if

you love someone you do not know, you are not sure that that love is eternal. It is because you are not committed to love that person. In loving, you must consider many things in order for you that you can say I love that person. First, you know the person whom you love. Second, your love for that person is total. Next, your love for that person is eternal. Lastly, your love for that person is sacred. If that three things are present surely you can say that you love the person whom you know very well. After criticizing the topic, I feel that I really did not understand that well of the experience of loving. Love should be practiced rather than be talked about. What can love do to ones life? The answer is better left to be experienced in personal rather than being studied. Without love, you are nothing at all as said in the Song of Tom Jones. You cannot love someone whom you do not know. Before you can say that you loved that person first thing you must consider is that you probably know that person.