unselfish love vs. sacrificial love (was: Harry's protection)

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 113087

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "cubfanbudwoman" 
<susiequsie23 at s...> wrote:
> Pippin said:
> > > But perhaps Rowling would agree that no human love is 
> > > unselfish.   In fact Dumbledore says that his love for Harry 
> > > led him to do things he now believes were wrong and foolish, 
> > > because he cared more about Harry than other people.  
>  
> Phabala:
> > Yes, exactly!  I don't believe love can ever be completely 
> > unselfish, because in the end you're always getting something 
> > from it. 
> 
> 
> SSSusan:
> And THAT'S why I've been arguing that Sacrificial Love really IS 
> very, very rare.  Posters have been trying to come up with examples 
> from canon of truly unselfish love, and there aren't all that 
many.  
> But consider that you would have to go one step FURTHER, even, than 
> unselfish love to find Sacrificial Love.  
> 
> Maybe SL really *is* the only purely unselfish kind of love?  I 
mean, 
> Harry sacrificing himself & dying out of love *would* be unselfish, 
> wouldn't it?  What could he possibly get from it??

Geoff:
We're back to the old problem that "love" is a catch-all word meaning 
anything from "I love ice-cream" to the sacrificial love we are 
talking about. 

This is where the four loves mentioned by C.S.Lewis come in - eros, 
philia, storge and agape.

We are really looking at agape. I agree with other posters that it is 
very difficult to love absolutely altruistically because our self-
interest and our reflex instinct for self-preservation get in the 
way. However, speaking personally as a Christian, it is a love I 
would aspire to because it is a reflection of the love God has for 
us. I think under those circumstances, selfless love and sacrificial 
love can come very close to being the same. We don't see God very 
openly in HP but Harry does have this "saving people" urge and, on 
occasions, has acted first and not considered the potential dangers 
until afterwards. Setting out to save other people from danger, from 
death, wanting others to have a better experience than he has had 
really has no comeback for him. Does this constitute an example of 
agape? Yes, I believe it does.

Geoff
Enjoy Exmoor and the 
heritage West Somerset Railway at:
http://www.aspectsofexmoor.com