ABSTRACT
Being-in-relation is often thought to be closely associated with love or caring. This chapter explores the ways in which even anger may be a form of being-in-relation. Love takes many different forms. It sweeps people away with the tempestuous force of passion or lightens their days with gentle affection. Love is personal insofar as both partners have the requisite qualities, thoughts, desires, dispositions to act, and commitments. Love is personal insofar as it is reciprocal. The philosophical conceptions of love between separate persons reflect the practice of philosophers who assume that human beings are separate. Love is a gift but it is also an accomplishment. In May Sarton' Anger, Ned, a banker, and Anna, a singer, battle over each other's divergent expectations of love and marriage. Love involves trust. It requires trust so that anger can be expressed, differences be defined, and disappointments aired without threatening the connection.
