Romantic Love and Morality' Virtuous Liaisons - Essay Example

Running Header: What Virtues Should Lovers Display Towards Еасh Оthеr? Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date: What Virtues Should Lovers Display Towards Еасh Оthеr? Love is an act of affection towards each other. There are various kinds of love; friendship love, romantic love, parent to child and vice versa amongst other kinds of love1. On this paper, the love under study is romantic love; which is love between lovers. Love is a powerful feeling; which lead people to doing unimaginable things. In fact, some say that love rules the world; others say that love makes the world go round. All the cultures in world have a special spot for love, hence the high regard with which it is held by people in the world. The various stories and fairies on love give an insight into the loving culture of humans. One of the most famous stories of all times is Romeo and Juliet; a story which illustrates what people do for love and the virtues those lovers should have towards each other. The following essay will give a detailed discussion of the various virtues which lovers should have towards each other. The essay will discuss love as a virtue, care and romance. One of the virtues which lovers should display towards each other is love. There are many arguments about love; with people arguing if love is supposed to be seen or felt. How do one tell that someone loves another person? Ideally, lovers are lovers because of love; hence without love, there are no lovers. Love leads to the sharing of lives between lovers, hence leading to the creation of a strong emotional link between the lovers2. Therefore, the fundamental virtue which lovers should display to each other should be love3. Love can be displayed via various ways. In these times of technological advancements in technology, texting sweet words to ones lover is a common way of displaying ones love. In fact, there have been a rampant growth in the number of companies which are offering services in love messages, owing to the fact that texting has become a very important way of expressing ones love to someone. Other things which lovers can do to display love to their lovers includes the giving of gifts to lovers, doing sweet things to each other for instance washing each other’s feet, spending time with each other among other practices which individuals deem good to their lovers. In displaying the love virtue to lovers, it should be acknowledged that love is not a situation occurrence; instead, it is a concurrent thing which should be displayed always. Therefore, the display of love should not be reserved for the special occasions for instance the St. Valentine’s Day, but should be an everyday display. In addition to this, the fact that love should be felt more than seen should be upheld. Lovers should tend to the innermost feelings of each other, hence being to connect emotionally as opposed to physically. It is when love is shared between lovers that it gains its true meaning. Therefore, in general, lovers should display love to each other. The second virtue which lovers should display towards each other is romance. It is impossible to talk about love without talking about romance. Over and over, people have interpreted the meaning of romance differently. There are those who think that romance is solely sex with other people viewing romance as a group of activities which lovers do together in a passionate manner. However, romance is supposed to spice up a love relationship; hence it is not a one thing affair4. All in all, sex is a major aspect of romance. Sex provides a physical connection between lovers. Intimacy is a major component of many love relationships. In fact, lack of it is known to cause relationship breakdowns. As indicated earlier love is a continuous thing hence aspects relating to it should be done concurrently with other life activities. As many relationship experts advise, it is important to rekindle the love that lovers have for each other. In so doing, the lovers are able to grow in love. On this point, romance comes up as a major tool used by lovers to rekindle their love. Romance makes individuals feel important and wanted in a love relations; hence it should be exercised frequently and randomly. Some romantic activities which lovers can do to display romance towards each other includes: taking a walk together, having special night outs for example having dinner under the moonlight or candle light, watching movies together, taking a bath together, not forgetting maintaining a healthy and interesting sexual life. However, a lovers relationship should take note of the society on which it is based; hence being able to take account of ethics and moral values upheld in that specific society5. As Halwani argues in his article on romantic love, it romance should be displayed according to the realms of the culture on which a couple is based, hence ensuring that romantic love becomes a virtue and not a vice. On this point, it is important to note that what is regarded to as an ethical and moral romance display in one culture may maybe regarded to as immoral in another culture. For instance, public kissing is allowed in the west while it is considered immoral in Africa. All in all, there are various aspects of romance in each culture which lovers should display to each other, with the aim of adding glamour to their love. Lastly, another virtue which lovers should display towards each other is care. Care is an act of a passionate concern for the well being of another person. Ideally, care is one of the virtues which is highly upheld in love relationships. Care ensures that the every action is considered as per the best consequences outcome6. As the famous marriage vow goes ‘in happiness and in sadness, in poverty and riches……….’, care is a love relationship should be unconditional. Care is the virtue which makes a man fail to go to the pub to watch a football match and stay at home with his ailing lover just to give her company and support. Care is the virtue which makes a lady wake up at night and makes a cup of coffee for his late working lover. In general, care is the virtue which ensures that the well being of a lover is upheld, hence providing a good internal and external environment for love to flourish7. Moreover, care takes into consideration the consequences of every action. In a love relationship, the lovers display care by doing actions which lead to the best consequences. When lovers display care to each other, other virtues come about automatically. This is due to the fact that care is multi dimensional; in that it tends to take into consideration of all the aspects of a lover. For instance, patience is a ripple virtue of care. Ideally, if a person cares about his or her lover, he or she will be patient of him Patience is a virtue which ensures that the lovers are not hasty at making decisions but instead takes time to consider the implications of their actions and also the ideal situation which necessitates their actions. Patience should always be displayed by lovers; in fact love is a product of patience8. With respect to care, patience ensures that lovers wait for the best and work for the best In a love relationship whereby there is shared life, shared interests and shared dreams, it is important that the lovers uphold the well being of each other; ensuring that all he hindrances to their dreams are done eliminated by continuous care. In conclusion, this essay has identified several major virtues which lovers should display towards each other. In the essay it has been identified that love should be shared between the lovers, hence it should be mutual. So are the virtues which lovers display to each other supposed to be. The easy has discussed about care, love and romance in details. The essay has shown that care is concerned about the well being of each other. It has also shown that romance is important in a love relationship since it spices up the love shared. From the essay, romance is meant to give lovers a feel of what they mean to each other, it is meant to strike an emotional connection between lovers. Love binds the lovers while respects ensure that there is a harmonious co-existence between the lovers. Summing Up, it is necessary for lovers to display virtues which enable their love to grow; and displaying such virtues as those discussed in this essay is a sure way of ensuring that this happens. References Baier, A., Unsafe Loves. n.d. pp. 433- 450 Caze, M.,. Love, That Indispensable Supplement: Irigaray and Kant on Love and Respect, Hypatia. Vol. 20, Issue. 3, 2005; pp.91- 115 Celenza, A., Analytic Love and Power: Responsiveness and Responsibility, n.d. pp.287- 303 Halwani, R , Romantic love and morality' Virtuous liaisons: care, love, sex, and virtue ethics, Open Court, Chicago, Illinois, 2003, pp. 89—103. Fomm, E.,. The Art Of Loving, London: Allen & Unwin, 1976 Knot, B., Distinction Between Love and Friendship, 2010. pp.1-10 Solbe, A.,. Concerning Self-Love: Analytic Problems in Frankfurt’s Account of Love, Essays Philos Vol.12, Issue.1, 2011. pp.55-76 Willaim M. Caring, Love's virtues, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 1996, pp. 32-54. Read More