What is love? bell hooks
Details
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Texts: We will email you the readings when you register.
Selected chapters from All About Love by bell hooks
- Chapter 1: Clarity ā Give Love Words
- Chapter 5: Spirituality ā Divine Love
- Chapter 10: Romance ā Sweet Love
ā±ļø Preparation: Approx. 1.5 hours
Session Description
What is love, really, and how do we know when we are practicing it rather than merely longing for it? In this session, we will ground our conversation in the core philosophical ideas of bell hooks, drawing from selected chapters of All About Love. Hooks challenges us to define love clearly, to understand it as an ethical and spiritual practice rooted in care, responsibility, honesty, and commitment, and to question cultural myths that equate love with romance alone. Together, we will explore what love demands of us, how it shapes our inner lives and our communities, and what it might mean to live more deliberately in the name of love.
In this session, we will ask:
- How can a lack of clarity in defining love lead to confusion in our relationships and within ourselves?
- What does it mean to approach love as a spiritual practice that connects us to something larger than ourselves?
- How do cultural myths and fantasies about romantic love distort our understanding of authentic love?
- What does love demand of us, and how might we live more deliberately in its name?
What Premise is like?
Join us in a welcoming, guided conversation space that invites people from all walks of life to think in public together with curiosity, openness, and respect. You do not need academic credentials or philosophical background. All you need is a willingness to read thoughtfully and reflect honestly.