The concept of love is a difficult one to categorize. Most theories avoid explicitly reductionistic language and rarely show conceptual connections between different aspects of love. A more flexible view, often referred to as an “emotion complex view,” emphasizes that love is a complex emotional attitude toward a person. The idea of love is evaluative, as well as dispositional, and has many overlapping components.

The human brain is built in such a way that the experience of love changes the way the brain processes information. It triggers an increase in dopamine-rich areas of the brain. These areas include the caudate nucleus, a part of the reward system, as well as the ventral tegmental area, which is part of the reptilian core of the brain and associated with wanting, motivation, and craving. In addition, the brain regions activated during passionate love are similar to those activated after a drug overdose, such as cocaine.

When a person is in love, they feel completely committed to their partner. They may want to move in together, have children, or help each other build a career. In addition to these goals, they may want to take the relationship to the next level by helping one another develop their spiritually. When these feelings and desires are paired with the hormones that are released as a result of love, these feelings can alter the way people make decisions.

In order for love to be true and lasting, it must be authentic and tolerant of both parties. A person must be able to show their love and give the other person freedom to grow and develop. The smallest things in life can show love. People who are deeply in love have a variety of emotions, attitudes, and feelings that make it difficult to separate the two.

Love is one of the most powerful emotions in the world. It involves strong feelings of affection and a desire to protect others. It also involves a high degree of self-sacrifice. The Bible describes love as the opposite of hate. For example, a person may love his or her dog, but a dog does not love its owner.

Ancient Greek philosophers tried to classify love. They classified it into four categories: storge, which is a kind of love shared between family members, phila, which is a kind of friendship, and eros, which is the classical romantic kind of love. Agape, on the other hand, was a kind of love derived from God.

Although there is a kernel of truth in this view, it misses the essence of love. Love is creative and does not respond to antecedent values. This is why love accounts that understand evaluation in terms of appraisal miss the mark.