If one looks at love in popular culture one sees that the current attitude towards love is one of idolatry. This thesis explains what this popular conception of love is (largely) based on. Current...Show moreIf one looks at love in popular culture one sees that the current attitude towards love is one of idolatry. This thesis explains what this popular conception of love is (largely) based on. Current love has its roots in Christianity and thus, by extension, Platonic thought. This thesis therefore examines some of the most essential characteristics of love in Christianity. These characteristics help to analyze the resemblance between love in Christianity and love in popular culture. Furthermore this thesis explores whether or not popular love could have been born out of ancient Greek philosophy or that these resemblances between popular and Christian love come from the fact that both schools are simply right about the nature of love. It is for that reason that this thesis briefly examines the potential heritage (of love) between Christianity and ancient Greece. Moreover, while it is impossible to prove that Christianity and popular culture are not right about love, this thesis provides a secular conceptualization of love which does not share the previously mentioned essential characteristics. This conceptualization ‘love as bestowal and affirmation’ is deeply rooted in the works of Singer, May and Nietzsche and will provide a secular view on love. This to show that it is possible to create a probably conceptualization of love completely separate from the Christian framework.Show less
