Aristotle divides friendships into three types, based on the motive for forming them: friendships of utility, friendships of pleasure and friendships of the good.

Friendships of utility are relationships formed without regard to the other person at all. Buying merchandise, for example, may require meeting another person but usually needs only a very shallow relationship between the buyer and seller. In modern English, people in such a relationship would not even be called friends, but acquaintances (if they even remembered each other afterwards). The only reason these people are communicating is in order to buy or sell things, which is not a bad thing, but as soon as that motivation is gone, so goes the relationship between the two people unless another motivation is found. Complaints and quarrels generally only arise in this type of friendship.

At the next level, friendships of pleasure are based on pure delight in the company of other people. People who drink together or share a hobby may have such friendships. However, these friends may also part—in this case if they no longer enjoy the shared activity, or can no longer participate in it together.

Friendships of the good are ones where both friends enjoy each other’s characters. As long as both friends keep similar characters, the relationship will endure since the motive behind it is care for the friend. This is the highest level of philia, and in modern English might be called true friendship.

“Now it is possible for bad people as well [as good] to be friends to each other for pleasure or utility, for decent people to be friends to base people, and for someone with neither character to be a friend to someone with any character. Clearly, however, only good people can be friends to each other because of the other person himself; for bad people find no enjoyment in one another if they get no benefit.” (1157a18–21)

Not all bonds of philia involves reciprocity Aristotle notes. Some examples of these might include love of father to son, elder to younger or ruler to subject. Generally though, the bonds of philia are symmetrical.

If philia is a type of love, Thomas Jay Oord has argued that it must be defined so as not to contradict love. Oord defines philia as an intentional response to promote well-being when cooperating with or befriending others. And his philia is not only that meaning. The philia also gives humans authentic friendship.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phileo

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The Christian Bible’s Second Epistle to the Corinthians is but one place where God is spoken of as the “Father of compassion” and the “God of all comfort” (1.3). The life of Jesus embodies for Christians the very essence of compassion and relational care. Christ’s example challenges Christians to forsake their own desires and to act compassionately towards others, particularly those in need or distress. Jesus assures his listeners in the Sermon on the Mount that, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” In the Parable of the Good Samaritan he holds up to his followers the ideal of compassionate conduct.

The heritage within Western Christendom of compassion as the principle of charity has resulted in recent times in the growth of remarkable charitable phenomena such as Oxfam, Médecins sans Frontières and Live Aid with global reach and budgets of millions of dollars. True Christian compassion, say the Gospels, should extend to all, even to the extent of loving one’s enemies.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassion

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Love sickness is a non-medical term used to describe mental and physical symptoms associated with falling in love.

Historically, love sickness has been viewed as a short-lived mental illness brought on by the intense changes associated with love. Universally acknowledged polymath Avicenna, a Persian, viewed obsession as the principal symptom and cause of love sickness. This diagnosis has been out of favor since the humoral model was abandoned, and since the advent of modern scientific psychiatry.

Symptoms

A 2005 article by Frank Tallis suggested love sickness be taken more seriously by professionals.

Love sickness only occurs when a person has fallen in love, not when a crush emerges. However it may develop into love.

Some of the symptom clusters shared with love sickness include:

•    mania or hypomania – abnormally elevated mood, inflated self esteem, extravagant gift giving

•    depression – tearfulness, insomnia, loss of concentration

•    anorexia – lack of appetite

•    stress – high blood pressure, pain in chest and heart, acute insomnia; sometimes brought on by a “crush”

•    obsessive-compulsive disorder – preoccupation and hoarding valueless but superstitiously resonant items

•    psychologically created physical symptoms, such as upset stomach, change in appetite, insomnia, dizziness, and confusion.

More substantively, the estimated serotonin levels of people falling in love were observed to drop to levels found in patients with OCD. Brain scan investigations of individuals who professed to be “truly, madly, deeply” in love showed activity in several structures in common with in the neuroanatomy of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), for example the anterior cingulate cortex and caudate nucleus.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_sick_%28anxiety_disorder%29

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