Love and its Place in Virtue

Abstract The fundamental claim of the book is that love is central to virtue. Beginning with an account of love it argues that there are many criteria for love which feature in various ways in the different forms of love. Central is the distinction between relational love between individuals and lovingness (in its various forms) as a fundamental emotional orientation towards the world as a whole (a Grundstimmung). Central too is the distinction between love as an emotion and virtuous forms of love. How love features in virtue in general, including virtues which are not virtues of love, is the main theme. The book discusses “foundational” loves (universal love, self-love, and dwelling love), some of the impartial virtues of love, and the relation between love and justice, arguing that justice should be loving. The major ideas in the book have been inspired by a number of great philosophers, notably Aristotle, Kant, Hume, Nietzsche, and Heidegger.