ABSTRACT
In spite of such drawbacks, and in spite of the diffi culties of loving someone suitable and doing so in the right way, we are creatures who need to love and who need to be loved. is is a claim that shapes a good deal of what follows. Another claim that helps to give shape to this book is that sexualized and intimate love of the sort that often exists between partners and spouses is a good exemplar of love of any kind. Although I write about love in general, about parental love and about the love of neighbours, it is love of this sort that is the main focus of my attention. It is a love that is sometimes regarded with suspicion, partly because it is sexualized
and partly because it involves a special attachment to the exclusion of all others.
