Major

Nursing

Advisor

Mazurkie, Andrew S.

Advisor Department

Biological Sciences

Date

5-2011

Keywords

love, marriage, divorce, biology, philosophy, psychology

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Abstract

The concept of love has been an eternally elusive subject. It is a definition and meaning that philosophers, psychologists, and biologists have been seeking since the beginning of time. Wars have been waged and fought over it, while friendships have been initiated and have ended because of this idea. But what exactly is love, and why is it important to define this enigma?

In order to help define this idea of love, several books and numerous research articles were consulted, and interviews were conducted with faculty of The University of Rhode Island. Dr. Nasser Zawia was interviewed, in order to help understand the role of neurobiology in the process of falling in love. Dr. Zawia explained the importance of neurotransmitters and brain activity when a person is in love. Dr. Dianne Kinsey was consulted, in order to help clarify the importance of the psychology of love. Finally, an interview with Dr. William Krieger revealed the importance of the study of philosophy and how it relates to the concept of love.

Research has concluded that the disciplines of biology, psychology, and philosophy are all important in analyzing love; however, more research needs to be done in order to define what love actually is, and how we can apply this knowledge in our everyday lives. With the divorce rates increasing, and the idea of marriage changing in today’s society, the importance of studying the concept of love cannot be overlooked. It is in this research that we, as a community, will be able to understand love, and its importance to the survival of the human race.

COinS