Why do we love? A philosophical inquiry - Skye C. Cleary

Prevodilac: Milenka Okuka Lektor: Mile Živković

Ah, romantic love -

Ah, romantična ljubav -

beautiful and intoxicating,

lepa i opojna,

heartbreaking and soul-crushing,

srceparajuća i rastužujuća,

often all at the same time.

često sve to istovremeno.

Why do we choose to put ourselves through its emotional wringer?

Zašto se odlučujemo da prolazimo kroz ovo emotivno nadgornjavanje?

Does love make our lives meaningful,

Da li ljubav naše živote čini smislenijim

or is it an escape from our loneliness and suffering?

ili je ona beg od naše usamljenosti i patnje?

Is love a disguise for our sexual desire,

Da li je ljubav paravan za našu seksualnu žudnju

or a trick of biology to make us procreate?

ili je ona trik biologije da nas navede na razmnožavanje?

Is it all we need?

Da li je sve što nam je potrebno?

Do we need it at all?

Da li nam je uopšte potrebna?

If romantic love has a purpose,

Ukoliko romantična ljubav ima svrhu,

neither science nor psychology has discovered it yet.

ni nauka, ni psihologija je još uvek nisu otkrile.

But over the course of history,

Međutim, tokom naše istorije,

some of our most respected philosophers have put forward some intriguing theories.

neki od naših najcenjenijih filozofa su izneli neke zanimljive teorije.

Love makes us whole, again.

Ljubav nas čini celovitim, opet.

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato

Antički grčki filozof, Platon,

explored the idea that we love in order to become complete.

istraživao je ideju da volimo kako bismo se osećali potpunim.

In his "Symposium", he wrote about a dinner party,

U njegovoj "Gozbi", pisao je o večernjoj zabavi

at which Aristophanes, a comic playwright,

na kojoj Aristofan, pisac komedija,

regales the guests with the following story:

uveseljava goste sledećom pričom:

humans were once creatures with four arms, four legs, and two faces.

ljudi su nekad bili bića s četiri ruke, četiri noge i dva lica.

One day, they angered the gods,

Jednog dana su naljutili bogove

and Zeus sliced them all in two.

i Zevs ih je prerezao na dvoje.

Since then, every person has been missing half of him or herself.

Od tada, svakoj osobi nedostaje polovina sebe.

Love is the longing to find a soulmate who'll make us feel whole again,

Ljubav je žudnja za pronalaženjem srodne duše

zbog koje se osećamo celovitim, opet

or, at least, that's what Plato believed a drunken comedian would say at a party.

ili je bar Platon verovao da bi to rekao pijani komičar na zabavi.

Love tricks us into having babies.

Ljubav nas obmanjuje da bismo imali bebe.

Much, much later, German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer

Mnogo, mnogo kasnije, nemački filozof Artur Šopenhauer

maintained that love based in sexual desire

je tvrdio da je ljubav zasnovana na seksualnoj žudnji

was a voluptuous illusion.

pohotljiva iluzija.

He suggested that we love because our desires lead us to believe

Sugerisao je da volimo jer nas naše žudnje navode da verujemo

that another person will make us happy, but we are sorely mistaken.

da će nas druga osoba usrećiti, ali to je krajnja zabluda.

Nature is tricking us into procreating,

Priroda nas obmanjuje da bismo se razmnožavali,

and the loving fusion we seek is consummated in our children.

a ljubavno stapanje za kojim tragamo konzumiramo preko naše dece.

When our sexual desires are satisfied,

Kad su naše seksualne žudnje zadovoljene,

we are thrown back into our tormented existences,

ponovo smo bačeni u naše mučno postojanje,

and we succeed only in maintaining the species

a jedino što uspevamo je da održimo vrstu

and perpetuating the cycle of human drudgery.

i ovekovečimo ciklus ljudskog jada.

Sounds like somebody needs a hug.

Zvuči kao da je nekom potreban zagrljaj.

Love is escape from our loneliness.

Ljubav je beg iz naše usamljenosti.

According to the Nobel Prize-winning British philosopher Bertrand Russell,

Prema dobitniku Nobelove nagrade, britanskom filozofu Bertrandu Raselu,

we love in order to quench our physical and psychological desires.

volimo kako bismo utalili naše fizičke i psihološke žudnje.

Humans are designed to procreate,

Ljudi su stvoreni za razmnožavanje,

but without the ecstasy of passionate love,

ali bez ushita strasne ljubavi,

sex is unsatisfying.

seks je nezadovoljavajući.

Our fear of the cold, cruel world tempts us to build hard shells

Naš strah od hladnog, okrutnog sveta nas mami da izgradimo čvrste ljušture

to protect and isolate ourselves.

kojima se štitimo i izolujemo.

Love's delight, intimacy, and warmth helps us overcome our fear of the world,

Užitak, prisnost i toplina ljubavi pomažu nam da prevaziđemo naš strah od sveta,

escape our lonely shells,

da pobegnemo iz naših usamljenih ljuštura

and engage more abundantly in life.

i da se bogatije uključimo u život.

Love enriches our whole being, making it the best thing in life.

Ljubav obogaćuje naše celokupno biće zbog čega je nešto najbolje u životu.

Love is a misleading affliction.

Ljubav je varljiva bol.

Siddhārtha Gautama,

Sidarta Gautama,

who became known as the Buddha, or the Enlightened One,

koji je postao čuven kao Buda iliti prosvećeni,

probably would have had some interesting arguments with Russell.

bi verovatno vodio neke zanimljive rasprave s Raselom.

Buddha proposed that we love because we are trying to satisfy our base desires.

Buda je izneo da volimo jer pokušavamo da zadovoljimo naše osnovne žudnje.

Yet, our passionate cravings are defects,

Ipak, naše strastvene žudnje su nedostaci,

and attachments, even romantic love, are a great source of suffering.

a privrženosti, čak i romantična ljubav su značajni izvori patnje.

Luckily, Buddha discovered the eight-fold path,

Srećom, Buda je otkrio osmostruku stazu,

a sort of program for extinguishing the fires of desire

nekakav program za gašenje vatri žudnje

so that we can reach Nirvana,

kako bismo dosegli nirvanu,

an enlightened state of peace, clarity, wisdom, and compassion.

prosvetljujuće stanje mira, jasnoće, mudrosti i saosećanja.

The novelist Cao Xueqin illustrated this Buddhist sentiment

Romanopisac Cao Hsuečin je prikazao

budistički osećaj romantične ljubavi kao zablude

that romantic love is folly in one of China's greatest classical novels,

u jednom od najznačajnijih kineskih klasičnih romana:

"Dream of the Red Chamber."

"Snu u crvenom paviljonu".

In a subplot, Jia Rui falls in love with Xi-feng

U sporednom zapletu, Đa Rui se zaljubljuje u Ši-feng

who tricks and humiliates him.

koja ga obmanjuje i ponižava.

Conflicting emotions of love and hate tear him apart,

Konfliktna osećanja ljubavi i mržnje ga razdiru,

so a Taoist gives him a magic mirror that can cure him

pa mu taoista poklanja čarobno ogledalo koje može da ga izleči

as long as he doesn't look at the front of it.

dokle god ne gleda direktno u njega.

But of course, he looks at the front of it.

Međutim, naravno, on pogleda direktno u njega.

He sees Xi-feng.

Vidi Ši-feng.

His soul enters the mirror

Njegova duša odlazi u ogledalo

and he is dragged away in iron chains to die.

i odvlače ga da umre u gvozdenim okovima.

Not all Buddhists think this way about romantic and erotic love,

Ne razmišljaju svi budisti na ovaj način o romantičnoj i erotskoj ljubavi,

but the moral of this story

ali je naravoučenije ove priče

is that such attachments spell tragedy,

to da slične privrženosti privlače tragediju

and should, along with magic mirrors, be avoided.

i trebalo bi ih izbegavati, zajedno sa čarobnim ogledalima.

Love lets us reach beyond ourselves.

Ljubav nam omogućuje da posegnemo izvan nas samih.

Let's end on a slightly more positive note.

Završimo u nešto vedrijem tonu.

The French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir

Francuska filozofkinja, Simon de Bovoar,

proposed that love is the desire to integrate with another

je izložila da je ljubav žudnja da se sjedinimo s drugim

and that it infuses our lives with meaning.

i da uliva smisao u naše živote.

However, she was less concerned with why we love

Međutim, nju je manje interesovalo zašto volimo,

and more interested in how we can love better.

a više ju je interesovalo kako možemo bolje da volimo.

She saw that the problem with traditional romantic love

Uvidela je da je problem kod tradicionalne romantične ljubavi

is it can be so captivating,

to što može da bude zarobljavajuća,

that we are tempted to make it our only reason for being.

da nas privlači da od nje stvorimo jedini razlog za postojanje.

Yet, dependence on another to justify our existence

Ipak, zavisnost od drugog, kako bismo opravdali sopstveno postojanje,

easily leads to boredom and power games.

lako vodi u dosađivanje i igre moći.

To avoid this trap, Beauvoir advised loving authentically,

Kako bismo izbegli ovu zamku, Bovoar je savetovala da volimo autentično,

which is more like a great friendship.

a to više liči na veliko prijateljstvo.

Lovers support each other in discovering themselves,

Ljubavnici podržavaju jedni druge u otkrivanju sebe samih,

reaching beyond themselves,

u posezanju izvan sebe

and enriching their lives and the world together.

i zajedno obogaćuju svoje živote i svet,

Though we might never know why we fall in love,

Iako možda nikad nećemo saznati zašto se zaljubljujemo,

we can be certain that it will be an emotional rollercoaster ride.

možemo da budemo sigurni da je to emotivni kovitlac.

It's scary and exhilarating.

Ona je zastrašujuća i uzbudljiva.

It makes us suffer

Zbog nje patimo

and makes us soar.

i zbog nje lebdimo.

Maybe we lose ourselves.

Možda izgubimo sebe.

Maybe we find ourselves.

Možda se pronađemo.

It might be heartbreaking,

Može da nam slomi srce

or it might just be the best thing in life.

ili može da bude nešto najbolje u životu.

Will you dare to find out?

Usuđujete li se da saznate?