203. Loves in General
(7) Of affections of the animus there are many species. These are called loves, as, for instance, venereal love, conjugial love, love of parents toward their children or storge, friendship. These several loves are so many conjunctions, connections, and consociations of parts with their general; for to live without love is to live as a part dissociated from its general. In order to live, every part must draw the condition of its living from the community, that is to say, it must live in the company of many parts. To its members, a society is their very form of living. Thus the nature of the life of its individual members comes from the form of the many, that is, of the society. Without connection, a single life is relatively no life. In order, therefore, that it may be something, loves are granted us whereby we may be connected, and by means of which we may regard our companions as our own selves, as though united with us and not separated. Therefore, there are loves of the body, such as 1 the venereal; loves of the animus, such as conjugial love and the love of companions; loves of the mind, of the intellectory, and of the soul. From the above it follows that, properly speaking, love is vital heat itself and the very force of life; for, without love, all things would grow torpid and become extinct.
Footnotes:
1. Reading ut for seu (or).
