Author Description

The Four Loves is a book by C. S. Lewis which explores the nature of love from a Christian and philosophical perspective through thought experiments. The book was based on a set of radio talks from 1958, criticised in the US at the time for their frankness about sex. Taking his start from St. John's words "God is Love", Lewis initially thought to contrast "Need-love", such as the love of a child for its mother and "Gift-love" epitomized by God's love for humanity, to the disparagement of the former. However he swiftly happened on the insight that the natures of even these basic categorizations of love are more complicated than they at first seemed: a child's need for parental comfort is a necessity, not a selfish indulgence, while conversely parental Gift-love in excessive form can be a perversion of its own. PleasuresLewis continued his examination by exploring the nature of pleasure, distinguishing Need-pleasures, such as water for the thirsty from Pleasures of Appreciation, such as the love of nature. From the latter, he developed what he called "a third element in love...Appreciative love", to go along with Need-love and Gift-love. A fictional treatment of these loves is the main theme of Lewis' novel Till We Have Faces.Storge - AffectionAffection is fondness through familiarity, a brotherly love, especially between family members or people who have otherwise found themselves together by chance. It is described as the most natural, emotive, and widely diffused of loves: natural in that it is present without coercion; emotive because it is the result of fondness due to familiarity; and most widely diffused because it pays the least attention to those characteristics deemed "valuable" or worthy of love and, as a result, is able to transcend most discriminating factors.Philia - FriendshipPhilia in Greek is the love between friends. Friendship is the strong bond existing between people who share common interest or activity. Lewis immediately differentiates Friendshi