Irrational Love: Taking Romeo and Juliet Seriously

McKeever, Natasha; Saunders, Joe

Abstract

This paper argues that there are important irrational elements to love. In the philosophical literature, we typically find that love is either thought of as rational or arational and that any irrational elements are thought to be defective, or extraneous to love itself. We argue, on the contrary, that irrationality is in part connected to what we find valuable about love. We focus on 3 basic elements of love: 1) Whom you love 2) How much you love them 3) How much of a role love plays in your life And in each case, we argue that love can be irrational and valuable.

Citation

McKeever, N., & Saunders, J. (2022). Irrational Love: Taking Romeo and Juliet Seriously. International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 30(3), 254-275. https://doi.org/10.1080/09672559.2022.2121895

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 22, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Sep 15, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022
• Deposit Date: Sep 12, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 13, 2023
• Journal: International Journal of Philosophical Studies
• Print ISSN: 0967-2559
• Electronic ISSN: 1466-4542
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 254-275
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09672559.2022.2121895
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1192197