Reason and love

"It is widely supposed that the two most precious capacities of our species, which make human life distinctively valuable and interesting, are that we can reason and that we can love. Each of these capacities is fully realized only when a person finds himself constrained by a kind of necessity. In the former case, it is the cognitive necessity of logic; in the latter, it is the volitional necessity of love. Reason is universal, in the sense that its dictates are equally binding on everyone. On the other hand, love is particular: the fact that I am devoted to certain ideals, or the fact that I love someone, does not lead me to think that anyone who does not do the same is making a mistake. The question of whom one is to love cannot be settled by developing a rigorous proof, nor can one rigorously demonstrate which ideals are properly to define the boundaries of one's will. This should not be taken to entail, however, that our volitional necessities must merely be acknowledged as givens - that is, accepted passively as brute facts with respect to which deliberation and rational critique have no place. The relationship between love and reason is an ancient philosophical theme, which it would be well for us to explore anew." (p. 26) Harry Frankfurt, On the Necessity of Ideals, in The Moral Self

Gosh, I find myself embroiled in this ancient philosophical debate, when I discovered myself, through patriotism, and I realized how love and reason and their entanglement is really something I daily face in my life, and also in my work.