An Examination of the Foundations of Love: A Comparative Study of Pascalian and Aristotelian Perspectives
An Examination of the Foundations of Love: A Comparative Study of Pascalian and Aristotelian Perspectives

Summary/Abstract: This article attempts to explain what love is. It compares two perspectives on love. Drawing on Blaise Pascal's "Discourse on the Passions of Love" and Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics", two conceptions of love are analyzed (focusing on selected aspects). The author addresses topics such as: love and ambition (two main passions that don't coexist well and weaken each other), man and pleasures, self-love, love and action, and love and reason. Among the conclusions drawn from this analysis, it is worth emphasizing that love and reason are inseparable; love cannot be faked. True love, therefore, is not a blind impulse, but a passion mediated and deepened by reason. Pascal's reflection leads to a radical reformulation of the concept of love. It should not be understood simply as something that happens, but as a complex activity involving the highest human faculties.

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