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Question of the Month

What Is Love?

The following answers to this crucial question each win a signed copy of Mark Vernon’s new book, The Meaning of Friendship.

Within the English use of the word ‘love’ seven kinds of implicit bonds or commitments appear. There is the satisfying of a basic appetite (‘I love eating’); the desire to form a mutual relationship; and an emotional attachment formed through prolonged contact. These three forms can apparently be experienced by both humans and domesticated animals. The last form may be applied to objects as well as living things. A fourth conception of love is a chosen disposition or attitude to behave beneficially to another person, or towards one’s self.

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