Aristotle and Romantic Love : A Study of Romantic Love and If It Can Be Part of Aristotle's Eudaimonia

Sammanfattning: This essay will research aspects of romantic love, as well as aspects of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. The purpose of the essay is to discuss if romantic love can be part of virtue ethics and eudaimonia. The philosopher Raja Halwani presents two concepts of romantic love that are relevant to the discussion. The concepts are romantic love 1 and romantic love 2. The first one is a new love, where the partners only want to be with each other. The second type of love is closer to companionship where the partners are familiar with each other and have been together for a long time. To contrast this, I will use Martin Hägglund’s theory concerning romantic love. In Hägglund’s theory love is built upon the care we feel for our partners. However, it is the fear that the loved one can be taken away from us that constitutes this care. In the end, one of the two concepts Raja Halwani were determined to be virtuous and part of eudaimonia. Hägglund’s theory was partly virtuous due to the care he deems that we feel for our loved ones.