Love, Narcissism and Philosophy

Whether you believe love is superficial or real, it doesn’t matter. When it comes down to it, love isn’t some force that propels or lifts us up, or even employs any extraordinary powers. Contradictory to what you may have heard, love, rather, is a manifestation of our own selfish desires. It drives us, whether for sex, glory, wealth, greed, power or any other selfish requirement, we rely on this facade and false ideology of love being beautiful, untouched and selfless for our own gain. We even use love to justify our actions, dismiss our faults and blame society all in the name of this perfect, indispensable plight of fraudulent obsessive love.

It is a sad truth that not all people have the same moral integrity, compassion or even conscience as you would expect. Regardless of upbringing, life choices, career or sexuality, we care about only one person. It was inbuilt from childhood through trials and triumphs, regardless of race, sex or religion, this person has never let you down, and never will, which is why you cherish and hold this one love. This person is yourself, and the reason why all love is narcistic.

The term narcissism is originally found in Greek mythology. It entails a story of a young man who falls in love with himself when seeing his reflection in a pool of water. He realises his own beauty and becomes obsessed in his own superficial understanding of his immortality. So being a typical young man, he jumps into the water, at the spur of the moment, and drowns. Narcissism is therefore taken upon the attitude of a person who takes his own body as an object of attraction and desire. Although the term has been broadened, narcissism can be studied through psychoanalysis as having an obsessive self-love and lack of concern for others. Although self love is considered bad, to have impartial self-love isn’t. Which is why there is controversy over relevance of self love, and whether it is a hindrance or beneficiary to life.