Principles of Practical Psychology: A Brief Review of Philosophy, Psychology, and Neuroscience for Self-Inquiry and Self-Regulation

by Erik Lenderman

For Plato, the highest form of love was the love of the intellect of a friend with whom one could participate in discovering knowledge of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful (Morality, Truth, and Aesthetics). The sensory stimulation of sexual attraction was therefore a more superficial form of love, which was ephemeral. Hence, the phrase Platonic Love was developed in order to describe this higher form of love.