Is love possible?

Question

Here's my argument for no:
P1: If you want to be loved, you first have to love.
P2: Love is selfless; i.e. you can only love without wanting anything in return.
P3: I want to be loved.
By P1 and P2, if I want to be loved, I can't love, because I can only love selflessly. Add in P3, I want to be loved, but I can't love, so I can't be loved either. Thus, if everyone who wants love cannot love or be loved, love is not possible.
But please tell me my premises or logic is wrong, because I don't like being so pessimistic.

Answer 1

Premise 3 is unassailable. I would not be so bold as to tell you what you want, and would tend to scoff at someone else who did.

Premise 2 I would call an analytic statement. That is to say, it is simply a definition of what love is. It cannot be disproven, because that is the basis under which we will discuss it.

Premise 1, however, is clearly untrue, and has been for as long as anyone can remember. There are copious examples of people who loved others who did not love them back. The best of which is contained, I think, in the ancient story of Pygmalion - a sculptor who fell in love with one of his sculptures.

The sculpture is unthinking stone. It is completely incapable of love or any other sentiment. Yet it is loved as a person by its creator. This example alone would seem to demonstrate that the ability to BE loved has nothing whatsoever with your capacity to love.

Without premise 1, your argument says nothing at all. Sorry, or congratulations. Depending on how you feel about it. ( :

Answer 2

I think the problem here is that you are presenting the situation as a logical argument, when we all know from experience that love is the most highly illogical thing in the world. You can't fit it into a formula or give it a structure no matter how hard you try. Sorry... x

Answer 3

For you, no, love is not possible.
Here's my argument for no.
P1: If you first love, then someone else is loved first, disproving the rule that one must first love to be loved.
P2: You (and everyone else) wants to be loved, it's just the rest of us deserve to be.
P3: Any one who would love you has probably already been loved first, many times, and got paid for it. Always use protection.
So, if you want to be loved, but can't love, because you spend all your time loving yourself, but can't love a loving lover, invest in some Viagra or a Popsicle stick and duct tape and get some love from some lovely little lover.

Answer 4

P1: correct
P2: Incorrect You must love without expecting anything in return. meaning you should love those who don't love you. But that doesn't mean that you can't want to be loved. In fact someone who didn't want to be loved would be incapable if showing love because he has no empathy for those who do.

Answer 5

I think we can love, but it is never returned in full. Or we can not change despite love. I want to believe that there is a perfect man for me. But when I add all the cons, and there are many, I realize I don't want more pain. Nothing is flawless till the end.
But I think there is hope for a lot of us. Hope and pain. But there is always pain. Just love someone who loves you a lot and forget the pain.

Answer 6

Yes love exists,its a feeling of a deep care.example I love my kids.its a deep care that words cant explain.its a feeling.

Answer 7

Murdock is correct . P! is a false assumption.

Answer 8

yes love is possable for some it may take longer than others but it is possable

Answer 9

does not god want to be loved.........love love's love not death.......i want to be loved by all in the world...why, because there is no reason not to love me......and i became love so i could spread that love......how can i spread love and not expect to be loved and to want that love

Answer 10

you make it soooooooo complicated. if two couples love each other, then that is love. dont make it complicated.