Aristotle's Maxim: "To love someone is to identify yourself with him."
This profound maxim by Aristotle offers deep insight into the essence of love. It suggests that beyond mere emotional attraction, loving someone means deeply connecting with them and accepting their existence as part of your own. This concept is closely tied to Aristotle's philosophy of friendship (Philia).
Meaning and Content of the Maxim
The core meaning and content of this maxim are as follows:
- Expansion of Self: To 'identify yourself' with someone you love means to feel and embrace their joys, sorrows, successes, and pains as if they were your own. This describes a state where the boundaries of the individual self expand, making the happiness and well-being of the other person synonymous with one's own.
- Ultimate Empathy and Understanding: By identifying with another, we begin to see the world from their perspective, deeply empathize with their emotions, and better understand their actions and choices. This goes beyond mere sympathy to reach an ontological level of understanding.
- Motivation for Altruistic Behavior: When you identify with someone, acts of sacrifice or consideration for them no longer feel 'altruistic.' Instead, they emerge naturally, almost like actions for oneself, because the loved one's benefit is intertwined with one's own.
- Formation of Community: This feeling of 'identification' strengthens bonds between individuals and, moreover, forms the foundation for strong social ties within families, friendships, and even the larger civic community. Aristotle believed that through 'good friendship,' citizens could regard each other as themselves and pursue the common good.
- Interdependence and Trust: Identifying yourself with another presupposes deep trust and interdependence. It requires a foundation of belief that you can show vulnerability to each other, rely on each other in times of difficulty, and navigate life together.
In conclusion, Aristotle emphasizes that true love is a process of ontological unity that goes beyond simple emotion. It signifies a profound bond where the existence and fate of the beloved are seen as inseparable from one's own.
Examples
Here are various scenarios where this maxim can be applied:
- Parental Love: Parents rejoice in their child's success as if it were their own and suffer when their child is ill as if they themselves were in pain. They invest their time, effort, and resources unsparingly for their children because their child's happiness feels directly linked to their own. This is arguably the most powerful form of love where one identifies with their child.
- Long-standing Friendships: Close friends who have built deep trust over time treat each other's joys and sorrows as if they were their own. They genuinely celebrate a friend's good news and actively help when a friend is struggling because they see that friend's life as an important part of their own.
- Team Sports Camaraderie: In team sports like soccer or basketball, players form strong bonds by considering each other 'teammates.' When one player scores a goal, everyone rejoices as if it were their own success, and when the team faces difficulties, they take responsibility together. This is because the team's victory feels like a personal victory, and a teammate's pain feels like their own.
- Devotion to One's Nation: A patriotic citizen might feel that the nation's crisis or development is their own problem and joy, leading them to dedicate themselves to their country. This occurs when they identify the national community with themselves, feeling that the well-being and prosperity of the community become a vital value in their own life.
Aristotle's maxim prompts us to re-evaluate the depth and meaning of love, offering crucial insights into how true connection with others can expand our being and enrich our lives.
