How do western people really think about platonic love?

How do western people really think about platonic love?
Jun 16, 2008 21:34
gueststudy	Platonic love, by definition, refers to a pure, spirituall affection between two people of opposite sex, unmixed with carnal desires and regarding the mind only and its excellence;-a species of love for which Plato was a warm advocate. (From Internet) The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica explained the term as follow: Platonic love is a term commonly applied to an affectionate relationship into which the sexual element does not enter, especially in cases where one might easily assume otherwise. The English term dates back as far as Sir William Davenant's Platonic Lovers (1636). It is derived from the concept in Plato's Symposium, of the love of the idea of good which lies at the root of all virtue and truth. Simply, Platonic love in its modern popular sense is an affectionate relationship into which the sexual element does not enter. In western culture, sex is crucial in a relationship. “Love without sex” is almost impossible. This can be an assumption. How do western people really think about “platonic love”?

Jun 16, 2008 21:34

gueststudy

Platonic love, by definition, refers to a pure, spirituall affection between two people of opposite sex, unmixed with carnal desires and regarding the mind only and its excellence;-a species of love for which Plato was a warm advocate. (From Internet)

The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica explained the term as follow:
Platonic love is a term commonly applied to an affectionate relationship into which the sexual element does not enter, especially in cases where one might easily assume otherwise. The English term dates back as far as Sir William Davenant's Platonic Lovers (1636). It is derived from the concept in Plato's Symposium, of the love of the idea of good which lies at the root of all virtue and truth.

Simply, Platonic love in its modern popular sense is an affectionate relationship into which the sexual element does not enter. In western culture, sex is crucial in a relationship. “Love without sex” is almost impossible. This can be an assumption. How do western people really think about “platonic love”?

Jun 18, 2008 04:50	#1
GUESTEGYPT	"Platonic love" doesn't work in reality. Only the sages like Plato and Socrates could have fulfill the ideal relationship.

Jun 18, 2008 11:05	#2
GRIZ326 Points: Join Date: Jun 12, 2006 Status: Offline	A Platonic relationship is either the prelude or the afterglow of a hot, steamy love affair.

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