II/ Love, as the Key Concept of Axiology

1/ Reconstruction of the Concept of Love

Attempting even a brief survey of the reflections philosophers have devoted to love is beyond my abilities—though some have questioned the significance of such reflections: Love occupies a prominent place in the works of poets, writers, and theologians, while only a few philosophers have directly addressed it ¹.

We might recall Descartes’ astute observation that love benefits digestion: I observe that when love occurs on its own [...] the pulse has a regular beat, but is much fuller and stronger than normal; we feel a gentle warmth in the chest; and food is digested very quickly in the stomach, so that love is beneficial to health ².

Nor is this the place to delve into theological doctrines exploring the nature of divine love, such as those of Augustine or Thomas Aquinas, or the notable theological debate between Fénelon and Bossuet on whether pure love of God is possible without the believer calculating the potential reward of eternal life.

The 'love' I intend to discuss bears little resemblance to the common-sense notion or the varied meanings it has acquired in philosophy. My aim is both to expand the scope of love and to redefine its understanding—transforming it into something entirely different. This reinterpretation of the concept of love is not arbitrary, and I will endeavour to justify it.

The idea I wish to defend, then, is that, contrary to traditional understanding, love is not primarily an emotion shared between two individuals; it is not merely a feeling but something far more expansive. It may also encompass any content of meaning, whether material or immaterial, including even entities without life or consciousness.
It is this expanded domain of love that I now propose to explore.

1. Dictionnaire d'éthique et de philosophie morale, "love" article by C. Habib
2. The Passions of the Soul, part II, art. 97