Organon F

Volume 32, February 2025, Issue 1, Pages 2–28

ISSN 2585-7150 (online)

We believe that love happens for a variety of reasons, yet the alteration of these reasons need not alter love. Philosophers call the former the selectivity of love and the latter the constancy of love. In this paper, I critically review quality theory and person theory and argue that neither can explain both phenomena. In light of Kolodny (2003) and Bagley (2015), I propose a temporal relationship theory (TRT) and argue that love between two people is justified if they are in a relationship for which a similar interpretation of the history, understanding of the present, and anticipation of the future of some identify-shaping ends of the relationship is shared. TRT can explain both the constancy and selectivity of love and the role of the beloved’s qualities and identity in the justification of love.

Love; temporality; qualities; identities; justification.

Author

Muk Yan Wong

Affiliation

The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong

Address

Department of Social Science, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, Hang Shin Link, Siu Lek Yuen, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong

E-mail

mywong@hsu.edu.hk 

Received

15 June 2020

Revised

10 April 2022

Accepted

30 May 2022

Publishers

Institute of Philosophy of the Slovak Academy of Sciences

Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences

APA

Wong, M.Y. (2025). A Temporal Relationship Theory for the Justification of Love. Organon F, 32(1), 2–28. https://doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2025.32101

Chicago

Wong, Muk Yan. 2025. "A Temporal Relationship Theory for the Justification of Love." Organon F 32 (1): 2–28. https://doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2025.32101

Harvard

Wong, M.Y. (2025). A Temporal Relationship Theory for the Justification of Love. Organon F, 32(1), pp. 2–28. https://doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2025.32101

© Muk Yan Wong

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