Episode 97: The Four Types of Love and Why Our Kids Need to Understand Them
Feb 6, 2024
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Exploring the four types of love - Agape, Storge, Phileo, Eros - and the importance of understanding their distinctions to avoid confusion. Discussing how culture distorts these loves, impacting children's perceptions. Providing examples from literature and movies to illustrate each type of love and suggesting resources for teaching kids about these concepts.
Understanding the different types of love (Agape, Storge, Phileo, Eros) is crucial for avoiding confusion in relationships and identity formation.
Society's reinterpretation of classic relationships as romantic poses a risk, emphasizing the importance of appreciating and distinguishing various forms of non-romantic love.
Deep dives
Different Types of Love
The podcast explores the different types of love and emphasizes the need to distinguish and understand each of them. Agape love, characterized by self-sacrifice and unconditional care, is exemplified through acts of charity and service. Storgy love refers to familial love, highlighting the unique bond and acceptance found within family relationships. Filet love is defined as a deep friendship love, emphasizing the strong affection and connection shared between friends. Arros love is discussed as romantic and sexual attraction. The podcast cautions against blurring the lines between these types of love and provides examples from literature and movies to illustrate their distinctions.
Reinterpreting Relationships
The podcast addresses the issue of society reinterpreting past media based on a focus on romantic love. The hosts express concerns about classic literary relationships and friendships being reinterpreted as romantic or sexual. Examples are mentioned, such as the relationship between David and Jonathan in the Bible being reinterpreted as a romantic love story. The importance of understanding and appreciating different types of non-romantic love is emphasized to provide clarity and avoid misinterpretation.
Examples in Literature and Movies
The podcast highlights how literature and movies can showcase the various types of love. Examples from classic literature like 'Jane Eyre' and 'Pride and Prejudice' are mentioned to illustrate elements of storgy, filet, and agape love. 'Anne of Green Gables' is also referenced for its depiction of intense friendship love. Movies like 'Princess Bride' are suggested to showcase different types of love, including agape and filet love. The importance of exposing children to these examples to help them recognize and understand the different kinds of love is emphasized.
Understanding Love for Healthy Relationships
The podcast underscores the importance of teaching children about the different types of love to help them navigate relationships. It highlights the potential confusion that can arise when children develop deep friendships but mistake them for romantic love due to societal expectations. The need to equip children with a solid understanding of love to avoid misunderstandings and the potential for identity confusion is emphasized. The hosts encourage parents to openly discuss the topic, provide examples, and help children differentiate between the various types of love they may experience.
Summary In this episode, Hillary and Amy address four different types of love in-depth — Agape (unconditional, self-sacrificial love), Storge (familial love), Phileo (strong friendship love), and Eros (sexual attraction). They stress how each type of love is different from the other and should not be confused. Hillary and Amy also discuss how today’s culture […]