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The title-giving phrase "loving persons' is meant to comprise two meanings, marking a twofold focus with regard to an analysis of romantic love. First, it refers to the subject of love, thus pointing to the question of what it means to be a person who loves. Second, it refers to the object of love, thus pointing to the question of what it means to love a person, as opposed to loving things or animals. In order to shed some light on these basic questions, I will concentrate on two essential conceptual features of "loving persons," namely, activity and passivity, which, I contend, play a pivotal role in our understanding of romantic love.¹ Furthermore, the notion of romantic love as I use it in this chapter should not be confused with infatuation. I simply use the term to refer to the love of, or between, (adult) persons who wish to establish or already have established a close personal relationship because of this love, which usually includes a sexual component.

DOI: 10.1057/9781137383310_4

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