Which Love in Law? Zenon Bańkowski and the Meaning of Love

Abstract

Zenon Bańkowski has challenged the popular view that law and love are opposites. Instead he has argued that they are ‘entangled’, ‘necessary’, and even ‘dependent’ on each other. Together they form the ‘unity’ that is required for us to live a lawful life. He argues that to see them as opposites is not only inaccurate, but also constitutes a ‘moral and cognitive failure’. If he is right, and we are to see love and law as connected to one another, the question arises of what he means when he talks of love. This inquiry will show that Bańkowski relies on ideas of love that spring from the Classical (eros), the Christian (agape) and the romantic traditions; however I will argue that a conception of love that also fits his argument is friendship love (philia).