The Arc of Love How Our Romantic Lives Change over Time

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Synopsis

Is love best when it is fresh? For many, the answer is a resounding “yes.” The intense experiences that characterize new love are impossible to replicate, leading to wistful reflection and even a repeated pursuit of such ecstatic beginnings.

Aaron Ben-Ze’ev takes these experiences seriously, but he’s also here to remind us of the benefits of profound love—an emotion that can only develop with time. In The Arc of Love, he provides an in-depth, philosophical account of the experiences that arise in early, intense love—sexual passion, novelty, change—as well as the benefits of cultivating long-term, profound love—stability, development, calmness. Ben-Ze’ev analyzes the core of emotions many experience in early love and the challenges they encounter, and he offers pointers for weathering these challenges. Deploying the rigorous analysis of a philosopher, but writing clearly and in an often humorous style with an eye to lived experience, he takes on topics like compromise, commitment, polyamory, choosing a partner, online dating, and when to say “I love you.” Ultimately, Ben-Ze’ev assures us, while love is indeed best when fresh, if we tend to it carefully, it can become more delicious and nourishing even as time marches on. 

Book details

Author:
Aaron Ben-Ze'ev
ISBN:
9780226634067
Related ISBNs:
9780226633909
Publisher:
University of Chicago Press
Pages:
N/A
Reading age:
Not specified
Includes images:
No
Date of addition:
2021-02-24
Usage restrictions:
Copyright
Copyright date:
2019
Copyright by:
N/A 
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Categories:
Health, Mind and Body, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Social Studies