A Phenomenology of LoveBy Manuel B. Dy Jr.

What is “L VE”?

Preconceptions of L ve:

♥ Love = ROMANCE

♥ Love an ACT OF POSSESSING

♥ Love synonymous to sex

Book: The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm

♥ Mentions love in the present as “falling in love”

3 Reasons: Emphasis on

1.Being loved rather than on loving

2.The object loved rather than on faculty of loving

3.Confusion between Initial State of falling in love & Permanent Standing in love.

The ORIGINAL“experience”of LOVE.• Loneliness and Love

• The Loving Encounter

• Reciprocity of Love

• Creativity of Love

• Union of Love

• The Gift of Self

• Love is Historical

• Equality in Love

• Love is Total, Eternal and Sacred

1. Loneliness and Love

• The experience of love begins from the experience of loneliness.

• But loneliness end when finds or is found by another in what we will call a loving encounter.

>> Love, a four-letter word that is not easy to define broadly. Yet let u try to define it through the following concepts.

2. The Loving Encounter

3. Reciprocity of Love

• Reciprocity is a mutual granting of equ; rights and benefits. If we would apply to love is being mutual, love means to give-and take.

• There is indeed an element of sacrifice in loving the other which is often understood by many as a loss of self.

• To be able to love, one must be able to love oneself first.

4. Creativity of Love

5. Union of Love

6. The Gift of Self

7. Love is Historical

8. Equality in Love

• Love is not a bondage but a liberation. In love there must be no superior/inferior. Freedom must be practiced w/in love. Freedom to be your own self, and express the mutual love shared w/ your loved one.

Ex: Love being demonstrated w/ our Friends

• We accept and respect each other’s differences including strengths and weaknesses.

9. Love is Total, Eternal and Sacred

“Love as gift to the other as self cannot be but total”

•We express authentic love without limit and without periphery.•Love is total. It is offered from the totality of my being to the totality of other’s being.•Love is eternal. It does not bound to be limited on specific time. Love implies immortality.•Love is sacred. It is sealed w/ trust, intimacy and even share secrets.