Description

Christopher Phillips goes to the heart of philosophy and Socratic discourse to discover what we are all looking for: the kind of love that makes life worthwhile. That is, love not defined only as eros, or erotic love, but in all its classic varieties - from storge, love of family and xenia, love of strangers, to philia, love between friends, and agape, selfless love. Each is clarified and invigorated in Phillips's Socratic dialogues with people from all walks of life and from all over the world.

He talks with mums and dads about "parent love," with inmates of a maximum-security prison about "unconditional love," with Sufi Muslims, with Buddhists in Toronto, with Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, with Hurricane Katrina refugees and a family who took them in, and with Japanese seniors and schoolchildren in Hiroshima Peace Park. Throughout, he enriches his dialogues with commentary on the great philosophers of love from the ancients to Rumi to Ayn Rand and Anaïs Nin, leading us to a more complete understanding of what it means to love today.

About the Author

Christopher Phillips has traveled all over the world talking philosophy with people from all walks of life. He is the author of the acclaimed Socrates Café and Six Questions of Socrates.