ABSTRACT
The things we love are diverse. We love inanimate objects: comic books, books, art, astronomy, mathematics, human bodies, wine, beer, fried chicken, fine food, our (and other) countries, national anthems, songs, wisdom, virtue, philosophy, architecture, and nature. We love activities: reading books, contemplating and making art, watching the stars, solving geometry problems, having sex, drinking alcohol, eating, serving our countries, singing, doing philosophy, designing buildings, and hiking, camping, and mountain climbing. We love animate things: cats, dogs, horses, cedar trees, beluga whales, daffodils, God, the gods, and, of course, people, whom we love in different ways, forming different types of love: we love some romantically; others we love as friends or as brothers and sisters; yet others we love as our children, and some claim to love the entire human race. We call all these “love.” But we also form feelings for and attitudes toward other people that resemble love but are not the same (and sometimes people confuse them for the “real thing”): we respect some people, we admire others; we have crushes on some, and we are infatuated with others. Sometimes we just sexually desire others. When the confusion sets in, we also call them “love.”
