Fox News recently ran this column by “sexpert” Dr Yvonne Fulbright partially reviewing Jenny Block’s new book Open, a memoir detailing her marriage’s transition from cheating to polyamory. (Disclaimer: I have not read Ms. Block’s book.)
Dr Fulbright’s column begins with the misuse of a philosophical term of art (“begging the question” is not “manifestly asking something”) and continues on through some fairly pedestrian musings on the nature of relationships only to bring the reader up short with a description of “multiple types of love”, supposedly as named by the Greeks, complete with names for these love styles. In Greek. Sort of (about which more in a moment). In reality, this list of “love types” has been lifted without attribution from John Lee, who published a book, The colors of love (1973) and then an article, “Love Styles” in The psychology of love (1988). Let us take a closer look.
Fulbright writes:
While our society has set one standard for love and relationships, other societies have recognized that multiple types of each exist. The Greeks had several words for different types of love, including:
Eros –- erotic love involving physical attraction and emotional intensity;
Agape –- sacrificial love involving placing a loved one’s welfare above your own;
Storge –- love as friendship and companionship;
Pragma –- love as a “shopping list” of desired attributes, such as being a good parent;
Ludus –- love as a game;
Mania –- jealous, obsessive, dependent love.
This seems pretty straightforward. The Greeks were so advanced that they had sixty words for love! This is like the eighty Inuit words for snow. Now I feel enlightened about the linguistic nobility of the savages, and am definitely ready to kick ass at Trivial Pursuit. - More after the jump
