Enjoyed Pravin Sabnis' concise piece exhorting us towards Agape (Charity, Unfeigned Love, unselfish love; and traditionally the love of God towards creation, precisely to mean humankind). It brought to mind C. S. Lewis who lists four natural loves in his book "The Four Loves"; Affection, Friendship, Eros, and Charity. C. S. Lewis held to the belief that none of these forms of love can flourish in the absence of Charity -- the Fourth Love. He works include "the Chronicles of Narnia," books on Christianity, volumes of poetry, a sci-fi trilogy, besides a novel. He died in Oxford in 1963.
Incidentally, Storge is more akin to affection, and parental, that which animals have for their young. Merriam Websters, second ed., puts it as [Greek storge; akin to stergein, to love] Parental affection; the instinctive affection which animals have for their young. venantius > From: Pravin Sabnis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [Goanet] AGAPE monday-muse (18 Feb 08) > John Lee identified six basic styles of love that people use in their > interpersonal relationships: Eros (romantic love), Ludus (love as a game or > sport), Storge (friendship), Pragma (love driven by head, not heart), Mania > (obsession) and Agape (selfless altruistic love). Agape is akin to caritas > (charity) where the gift of love is sans any expectation.
