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The Meaning of Love Paperback – October 1, 1985

by Vladimir Solovyov (Author), Jr. Thomas R. Beyer (Translator), Owen Barfield (Introduction)
4.3 out of 5 stars 9 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 128 pages
  • Publisher: Lindisfarne Books; Revised edition (October 1, 1985)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0940262185
  • ISBN-13: 978-0940262188
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.3 x 8.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,110,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsA great read
By N. Wood on October 16, 2007
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Soloviev, a brilliant Russian Orthodox philosopher of the late 19th century, covers a lot of ground in this little book. Love is held up as the shatterer of egoism and the means by which an individual becomes a bearer of the "all-unity" of the cosmos, gathering together all the elements of the world together within himself and thereby becoming an absolutely unique, absolutely irreplaceable, "absolutely significant" individual who transcends the laws of nature and triumphs over the forces of decay and death. For anyone who suspects that love is about more than just blind sexual instinct, or economics, or anything less than insight into the heart of reality, this book simply can't be passed up. Even if you end up not agreeing with everything here, you'll no doubt be moved by the beauty of the cosmic vision of love he presents.
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5.0 out of 5 starsSolovyov, transference and the Grail search.
By Charles G. Edwards on November 23, 2002
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
If you are searching for the Grail in the mystical experience of love and the transference, this is the book for you. The title says it all. Solovyov explores and uncovers the reason there is such archetypal emotional power in love even though the divine, cosmic source is not consciously recognized and understood. It is the failure to recognize the source behind the emotion which results in such tragic disillusion and despair. Finding the true source can be - should be life transforming.
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5.0 out of 5 starsyes!
By myriad eyes on February 21, 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
So much beauty here. I love the point woven throughout the book, that the evolutionary development of rational self-consciousness - which is the precondition for egoism, the valuation of oneself as THE center of importance - was itself a precondition for the capacity to recognize (and justify with deeds) that same significance in others, i.e. to love. And that this rationality was more or less handed to us by nature, but that it has been left up to us whether or not we choose to love.
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5.0 out of 5 starsFrom a Russian mystic with love
By Ashtar Command on December 14, 2014
Format: Paperback
This is a translation of Vladimir Solovyov's "The Meaning of Love", with an introduction by Owen Barfield. Solovyov was a prominent 19th century Russian philosopher, perhaps most known for his "Short Story of the Anti-Christ". Working within the Christian tradition, he was nevertheless inspired by "occult" sources, which may explain why Barfield (a lifelong student of Rudolf Steiner) found him interesting.

Despite being short, "The Meaning of Love" is difficult to summarize in a review, containing many interesting ideas and speculations. The main idea is that love between man and woman (including sexual love) is a reflection of the Divine, and in some sense points forward to union with God and the restoration of true humanity, which Solovyov pictures as androgynic. For this reason, Solovyov rejects homosexual unions, since they aren't complementary and hence can't restore the androgyne. Solovyov further argues that only rapturous, ecstatic love can overcome egoism, both in the lover and the beloved, since only such love makes it possible for us to feel that our individuality (and that of another) has absolute and infinite worth. Since our empirical, earthly selves obviously cannot have such worth, all by themselves, love points towards a perfect human archetype, which can only exist in God.

Solovyov rejects a purely biological, evolutionary explanation of love (in the above sense of the term). Most living organisms procreate without love, some don't even have sexual reproduction. Humans usually also procreate without love. Even stable families are possible without love. Yet, love in the highest degree undoubtedly exists among humans. Where does it come from? Its sources must be spiritual.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsAntidote to Superficial Romanticism
By Kasper N on April 8, 2012
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
The Meaning of Love is a powerful antidote against the Hollywood hymn to superficial romanticism. Solovyov shows why and how romantic love may be a gateway to the divine rather than to sloppy sentimentalism. His argumentation is clear and coherent throughout, and shows both a deep mind and a man who has personally experienced what he writes about. The Introduction by Owen Barfield is also excellent, and shows why Solovyov's thought is still (or: especially) relevant to the modern age.

For further reading in this field, I would suggest Charles Williams' Outlines of Romantic Theology, which deals with many of the same issues (though from a slightly different perspective).
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