Why Can't We Love Everyone?
Wouldn't it be nice if we all could not only "just get along," but love everyone?
Stephen Asma, professor of philosophy at Columbia College, says universal love is a myth, according to a story by Christie Nicholson at smartplanet.com.
She notes that he affirmed this in a recent New York Times article, “All people are not equally entitled to my time, affection, resources or moral duties," he said in the article.
Ansa told Nicholson tha the idea of universal love has been used for ill, not good, using as examples the Soviet Union and Mao's China, where "even family bias was bad and should be broken and subjugated to this universal love."
Nicholson reported on Ansa's belief that love and expressions of it are finite. In fact, Ansa postulates that care is more a biological affect than an emotional one, according to Nicholson. All mammals experience it.
"Caring for somebody is a lot like sprint racing," Ansa told Nicholson. You have to gear up for it, and when you run, you’re taxing the system. When you’re caring for somebody and loving them, it’s actually also making a demand on your system. And my argument is you can apply that to your family and friends and a small group of loved ones, but you can’t expand that out infinitely to the whole human race."
Instead, Ansa told Nicholson, he believes we should have an "ethical regard" for others in the world.
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/pure-genius/q-a-stephen-asma-philosopher-on-why-we-cant-love-all-humankind/9553?tag=nl.e662&s_cid=e662&ttag=e662
Stephen Asma, professor of philosophy at Columbia College, says universal love is a myth, according to a story by Christie Nicholson at smartplanet.com.
She notes that he affirmed this in a recent New York Times article, “All people are not equally entitled to my time, affection, resources or moral duties," he said in the article.
Ansa told Nicholson tha the idea of universal love has been used for ill, not good, using as examples the Soviet Union and Mao's China, where "even family bias was bad and should be broken and subjugated to this universal love."
Nicholson reported on Ansa's belief that love and expressions of it are finite. In fact, Ansa postulates that care is more a biological affect than an emotional one, according to Nicholson. All mammals experience it.
"Caring for somebody is a lot like sprint racing," Ansa told Nicholson. You have to gear up for it, and when you run, you’re taxing the system. When you’re caring for somebody and loving them, it’s actually also making a demand on your system. And my argument is you can apply that to your family and friends and a small group of loved ones, but you can’t expand that out infinitely to the whole human race."
Instead, Ansa told Nicholson, he believes we should have an "ethical regard" for others in the world.
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/pure-genius/q-a-stephen-asma-philosopher-on-why-we-cant-love-all-humankind/9553?tag=nl.e662&s_cid=e662&ttag=e662
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