Love as a Remedy to the Malaise of the Soul in Modernity

The purpose of this thesis project is to both diagnose the current malaise of the soul, and offer a potential remedy to this malaise. By attending to Hannah Arendt’s notion of “worldlessness” drawn from her book The Human Condition, I will argue that the condition of worldlessness and subsequent feelings of loneliness result in a “malaise of the soul”. The remedy to this malaise may be found, I will argue, in the proper type of love. When viewed within the canon of literature on philosophy of education, this project addresses a significant lack of philosophical depth when considering love as central to education and pedagogies of love. While numerous scholars have argued for the importance of love in education, these works fall short in offering a complete philosophical understanding of love itself. This project draws on ancient philosophy, specifically Socrates’ arguments as presented by Plato in Phaedrus and Symposium, to address this lacuna. By bringing a robust understanding of love to Arendt’s work, it aims to offer love as a remedy to the current malaise of the soul.