The concept of love in 17th and 18th century philosophy

ldquoLove is joy with the accompanying idea of an external cause.rdquo Spinozarsquos definition of love Ethics Book 3 Prop. LIX manifests a major paradigm shift... » 

ldquoLove is joy with the accompanying idea of an external cause.rdquo Spinozarsquos definition of love Ethics Book 3 Prop. LIX manifests a major paradigm shift achieved by seventeenth century Europe in which the emotions formerly seen as normative ldquoforces of naturerdquo were embraced by the new science of the mind. We are determined to volition by causes. This shift has often been seen as a transition from a philosophy laden with implicit values and assumptions to a more scientific and valuefree way of understanding human action. But is this rational approach really valuefree? Today we incline to believe that values are inescapable and that the descriptivemechanical method implies its own set of values. Yet the assertion by Spinoza Malebranche Leibniz and Enlightenment thinkers that love guides us to wisdommdashand even that the love of a God who creates and maintains order and harmony in the world forms the core of ethical behaviourmdashstill resonates powerfully with us. It is evidently an idea we are unwilling to relinquish. This collection of insightful essays emerged from two ldquoContactForardquo organized within the framework of the research project Actuality of the Enlightenment The Moral Science of Emotions conducted under the auspices of Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van Belgie voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten. It offers a range of important and fascinating perspectives on how the triumph of ldquoreasonrdquo affected not only our scientificphilosophical understanding of the emotions and especially of love but our everyday understanding as well. «