Is it better to love better things?

Aaron Smuts

pp. 91-107

in: Christian Maurer, Tony Milligan, Kamila Pacovská (eds), Love and its objects, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014

Abstract

Is it better to love better things? This question is ambiguous in multiple ways. There are at least three variables: (a) What kind of better do we have in mind? Prudential, moral, aesthetic, or some other kind of better, such as more meaningful? (b) What do we mean by love? Do we simply mean "liking," or are we asking about something more robust, such as care or romantic love? (c) What kinds of things are we talking about? Ideals, artifacts, places, pets, or people?