Love is a complex concept drawing from various ideas and concepts. At its
core, love involves attraction, (not necessarily sexual,) and positive emotional attachment, as well an invoking motivations of
loyalty, devotion, and/or trust. Love involves several different definitions, however, only the romantic version
will be discussed.
“Love” can be defined as a highly idealized romantic relationship between a partner or spouse, or more specifically, the central motivating and sustaining factor of that relationship. In this
case, "love" is an intangible emotional, (or in extreme cases, metaphysical)
force in which a
person understands and accepts every part of their partner, and are motivated to devote themselves to this
person. Often this is defined as being "
fate," or otherwise beyond
one'
s control. "Falling
in love" being the most common descriptor of this supposed phenomena, with falling carrying with it an accidental or unexpected connotation. The causes for this schema are centered around two key factors: the appeal that love simply "occurs" or is "fated" or is "an accident" is obvious, as it implies that it is easier to occur, harder to screw up, or more likely, (or even inevitable.) The second of these factors is the misunderstanding of "love" as "infatuation," "obsession," or "attraction." These are biological, behavioral, and social forces, and are certainly not synonymous or interchangeable with the almost mystical concept of "love."
