Philosphies of Love

Dear Colleagues,

The philosophical investigation of love invokes millennia-long conversations stretching from Plato’s Symposium to Kierkegaard and Binswanger in the 19th and early 20th centuries, from Martha Nussbaum to Harry Frankfurt and Jean-Luc Marion in the late 20th century, as well as to more recent studies like Anthony Steinbock’s Knowing by Heart: Loving as Participation and Critique. Inquiries into the intentionality of love, the interpersonal structure of love, the emotional valences of love, the cognitive science of love, and the bodily constitution of love have been the focus of recent articles and monographs, with no consensus reached. The lack of consensus is not a sign of failure, but of fertility and generativity.

This Special Issue invites a multidisciplinary philosophical exploration of the phenomenon of love. Approaches from phenomenology, existentialism, social ontology, literature, poetry, Greek philosophy, and other continental perspectives are welcome. The scope of this Special Issue includes broad metaphysical questions: What is the philosophy of love? How do self-love and love of the other interrelate? Does love necessarily involve sacrifice? Is it unconditional? Are there public or political forms of love? Can one learn or be educated into the phenomenon of love? We encourage analytic or continental perspectives, as well as the examination of early medieval, early modern, and late modern figures. What direction, for instance, thematically, should a philosophy of love explore? These questions only serve the purpose of exemplary queries that are, nevertheless, urgent. Many more dialogues could be opened up in this domain and are welcome to be submitted to the guest editor for consideration. I request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editor, Joseph Rivera, via email ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editor to ensure a proper fit within the scope of this Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

Dr. Joseph Rivera
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Philosophies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• love
• phenomenology
• philosophical anthropology
• self/selfhood
• affection
• literature