Do athiest think love is real?

[Sonic247]

It seems to me in a good marriage there is something more than can be explained in biology. Regardless of whether a person can explain what it is do atheist believe love is a real thing, you know.. "true love."

 

[Willamena]

It is found in relationship, and commitment to something more than oneself. It is found in devotion, and fulfilment of purpose. It is found in feeling, and the presence of another. These things are true, and it is real for the atheist too.

 

[Sunstone]

Nope. Atheists have never an experience of loving anyone or anything, so how could they possibly think love is real, Sonic?

 

[Autodidact]

It seems to me in a good marriage there is something more than can be explained in biology. Regardless of whether a person can explain what it is do atheist believe love is a real thing, you know.. "true love."

Are you clear on what the word "atheism" means? It refers to someone who does not believe there is a God. Now why on earth would that cuase an individual to doubt the reality of love. Further, what makes you assume that love cannot be explained in biology?

 

[whereismynotecard]

I don't believe in love, but I am a Nihilist... I'm an Atheist too... To be a Nihilist, you have to be an Atheist too...

You cannot ask such a generalized question though... I think the only thing all Atheists have in common is that they do not believe in God...

 

[blackout]

Nope. Atheists have never an experience of loving anyone or anything, so how could they possibly think love is real, Sonic?

Honestly! If atheists believed in love,
how could they possibly go on eating innocent little children?!

It's a no brainer.

 

[whereismynotecard]

Honestly! If atheists believed in love,
how could they possibly go on eating innocent little children?!

It's a no brainer.

I eat dead chickens and turkies... I am a quite evil... It is due to Nihilism.

 

[blackout]

I eat dead chickens and turkies... I am a quite evil... It is due to Nihilism.

As a Nihilist,
doesn't that rather annihalate the concept of evil?

As an athiest you can now add innocent children to your list of non-evil entres.

 

[whereismynotecard]

As a Nihilist,
doesn't that rather annihalate the concept of evil?

As an athiest you can now add innocent children to your list of non-evil entres.

It kind of does actually... I think if I believed in God, I'd still be a vegaterian... I just don't care about that anymore... Chickens are going to die anyway, so why not make them into delicious McNuggets??

 

[Fluffy]

I don't believe that love is anything more than a natural process. So if you think love is more than this then no I do not think that your love is real. I do, however, think that my love is real.

 

[Autodidact]

Yes, I'm with Fluffy. Real pretty much means the same thing as natural to me, so all things real, including love, are part of nature.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

It seems to me in a good marriage there is something more than can be explained in biology. Regardless of whether a person can explain what it is do atheist believe love is a real thing, you know.. "true love."

Yes, I do.

I'm with the others in that I do not think love is supernatural. Of course, love is far more valuable and beautiful and important to me than just "any old" natural phenomenon. I don't agree with the perspective of some theists that only supernatural things have value or meaning.

 

[3.14]

love is a biological thing its the release of feromones and certain brain parterns that determen if your in love the emotions you feel are all created in your mind not by some god.

 

[Sonic247]

So love is believed to be real by most atheist, but also a part of nature. Would love be described in psycholgical terms in the same category as lust or is it something completely diffrent. A Frued said alot about lust, did he say anything about love.

 

[BucephalusBB]

So love is believed to be real by most atheist, but also a part of nature. Would love be described in psycholgical terms in the same category as lust or is it something completely diffrent. A Frued said alot about lust, did he say anything about love.

I see lust and love definatelly as something different. Lust is evolved as a way to keep the species alive for example, while love is evolved to have company.

 

[Halcyon]

It kind of does actually... I think if I believed in God, I'd still be a vegaterian... I just don't care about that anymore... Chickens are going to die anyway, so why not make them into delicious McNuggets??

Since when were McNuggets made out if chicken? Last time I checked the ingredients were mostly bat faeces and sawdust...

It seems to me in a good marriage there is something more than can be explained in biology. Regardless of whether a person can explain what it is do atheist believe love is a real thing, you know.. "true love."

Go find me a particle of love that I can do some tests on, then we can determine whether love exists.

Love is a term used to describe many different things, you must realise this?
For example, people can love the taste of bacon, but it's not the same kind of love they have for their children.

Love doesn't exist, but the various attributes we associate with "love" such as lust, parental protectiveness, pleasurable sensations (could be visual, aural or olfactory), familiarity even jealousy etc etc, these all exist as behaviours/sensations and all with biological/psychological causes.

 

[Manipulated]

It seems to me in a good marriage there is something more than can be explained in biology. Regardless of whether a person can explain what it is do atheist believe love is a real thing, you know.. "true love."

Define "true love" please,it will help in answering this question.

 

[Autodidact]

So love is believed to be real by most atheist, but also a part of nature. Would love be described in psycholgical terms in the same category as lust or is it something completely diffrent. A Frued said alot about lust, did he say anything about love.

The general category that many (not all) atheists subscribe to is metaphysical naturalism. That means that everything that exists is part of the natural world, and to exist means to be part of the natural world, that there is nothing that can be said both to exist and to be supernatural. Since love is real, love is part of the natural world. For me, love and lust are two separate emotions that overlap. You can have love without lust, lust without love, but the best is love + lust; even better if it's mutual.

Why bring Freud into it? IMO almost everything the man said was wrong, and he was fundamentally unscientific.

 

[whereismynotecard]

I don't know if you guys care what I think, and I know I've said it in the past, but I believe that "love" is no more than obsession. Sometimes said obsession lasts a lot longer than other times, but sometimes the two people who were obsessed with each other gradually stop being obsessed, and they don't see what was so great about the other person in the first place... which is why I would never want to get married...

How many married couples would get married again if they had the option?? Probably not too many, as most of them get divorced, and a lot of the ones who don't get divorced stay together for some financial reason or because they have children together.

 

[Nanda]

I don't know if you guys care what I think, and I know I've said it in the past, but I believe that "love" is no more than obsession.

Nah. For one thing, I love my parents, but I'm certainly not obsessed with them. And if you're referring only to romantic love, that's not really true, either. My husband and I have been together for 12 years now, and at this point, we're hardly obsessed with each other; but we still love each other. A large part of love is fondness, and fondness does not equate to obsession.

As for the OP, of course I believe in love. Love has many evolutionary advantages - it keeps males around to help raise their offspring, for one.