An existential structure of love

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In this article we argue that love is to be understood in relation to a deeper existential structure. Love actualizes the extremes of activity and passivity, two fundamental existential positions. On one hand, we are thrown into the world and the Other in immediacy that exceeds our control. On the other hand, we are responsible for how this encounter is carried into the future. A living love relationship can be said to consist of an oscillation between these poles. Furthermore, we argue that this process is intimately bound to subjectivity. We become subjectivized through the dialectic struggle between what is given and acting on it. In this way, the dialectic of love can be seen as one of the arenas where we most profoundly "become who we are." © 2020 American Psychological Association.
Original languageEnglish
JournalThe Humanistic Psychologist
Volume49
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)369-380
ISSN0887-3267
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

ID: 230747567