Where does love collide?

In the philosophical and theological tradition love is not one thing but a family of distinct relations, classically the Greek quartet of storge (affection), philia (friendship), eros (romantic love), and agape (selfless or charitable love). Lewis's The four loves is a well-known modern treatment that keeps these meanings apart and examines how each works and how each goes wrong. The referent is a value-laden relation of care or attachment analysed by kind, utterly distinct from a tennis score of nothing and distinct too from the single measurable construct psychologists model.[1]

Unit

A kind of caring relation (affection, friendship, eros, or charity)

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Analysed conceptually by the object, motive, and form of the loving relation

In psychology love is treated as a measurable relational construct. Sternberg's 1986 A triangular theory of love decomposes it into three components, intimacy, passion, and decision/commitment, whose combinations define kinds such as romantic, companionate, or consummate love. The referent is a structured psychological state between people, assessed by scales, and although it shares its object with the philosopher's analysis it is handled as one quantifiable construct rather than a family of named loves, and has nothing to do with a zero in tennis.[2]

Unit

Levels of intimacy, passion, and commitment in a relationship

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Assessed with self-report instruments such as Sternberg's Triangular Love Scale