In The Reasons of Love, leading moral philosopher and bestselling author Harry Frankfurt argues that the key to a fulfilled life is to pursue wholeheartedly what one cares about, that love is the most authoritative form of caring, and that the purest form of love is, in a complicated way, self-love. Through caring, we infuse the world with meaning. Caring provides us with stable ambitions and concerns, and it shapes the framework of aims and interests within which we lead our lives. Love is a nonvoluntary, disinterested concern for the flourishing of what we love—and self-love, as distinct from self-indulgence, is at heart of this concern. The most elementary form of self-love is no more than the desire to love, and self-love is simply a commitment to finding meaning in our lives.
Awards and Recognition
- Winner of the 2004 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Philosophy, Association of American Publishers
- Harry G. Frankfurt, 2017 Charles Homer Haskins Prize Lecturer, American Council of Learned Societies
Harry G. Frankfurt (1929–2023) was professor of philosophy emeritus at Princeton University. His books include the #1 New York Times bestseller On Bullshit, On Inequality, and Demons, Dreamers, and Madmen (all Princeton).
"A pleasure to read. . . . Its literary qualities . . . resemble the sharp lines and bright colors of a fine Mondrian or the austere elegance of good modernist architecture. . . . Frankfurt has thought long and hard about the issues he addresses. He gives ingenious and original arguments. And he states his position with precision and clarity. . . . I recommend this book very highly to anyone who is interested in moral psychology. It is a comprehensive statement of the mature views of one of the most creative philosophers of his generation. It is likely to provoke fruitful discussion. People outside the rather narrow circle of academic philosophers will find it accessible. It deserves to be widely read."—Philip L. Quinn, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
"[Frankfurt] writes clearly and beautifully. His little book provides the
rare pleasure of witnessing an agile and sensitive mind grappling with an issue of universal importance."—Eric Ormsby, The New York Sun
“A pleasure to read. . . . Its literary qualities . . . resemble the sharp lines and bright colors of a fine Mondrian or the austere elegance of good modernist architecture. . . . [A] comprehensive statement of the mature views of one of the most creative philosophers of his generation.”—Philip L. Quinn, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
"[Frankfurt] writes clearly and beautifully. His little book provides the rare pleasure of witnessing an agile and sensitive mind grappling with an issue of universal importance."—Eric Ormsby, New York Sun
“A thought-provoking work that should appeal to those interested in love, practical reasoning, and questions concerning the good life.”—Jason Kawall, Philosophy in Review
“Well worth reading.”—Berel Dov Lerner, Practical Philosophy
