「好きな人の特別な存在になる」ことの特別さ——相互的な愛の価値について——

抄録

Although being loved by someone we love is generally acknowledged as having special value, what that value is and from whence it derives remain unclear. As described herein, the author suggests two constituents of the special value of mutual love: the very nature of love, i.e., becoming happy by the happiness of one’s beloved; and a mutual recognition between lovers of this becoming happy by the happiness of one another.

After posing the question of the value of mutual love, the love–emotion relation is examined and defined in terms of relevant emotions. From this definition, the author examines a Union View of Love, inferring that this view clarifies neither the specificity nor origin of the value of mutual love. Finally, the author proposes the Echo View, explaining mutual love’s value by the nature of love and by lovers’ mutual recognition of their happiness, with some additional remarks about relevant issues.