Search

1. Roots Modern scholarship deals with love primarily in psychology and sociology. As regards the roots of love, we are referred to ethnology and the study of behavior. Living creatures develop behavior patterns that foster their survival as individuals and species. Members of a group reject nonmembers as strangers or enemies. The coupling of sexually different beings involves a positive choice to the exclusion of others. Raising young creates a relation between generations that involves care and …

1. Concept and Origin An oath is either a solemn assertion or a promise. We find this form of enhancing reliability in almost all cultures. Oaths perhaps arose from the attempt to link gestures, acts, words, and the reaction of the world around in such a way as to reduce any doubt as to the validity of a communication. Thus raising the hand at an oath might originally have been a gesture of peace. The beginning of an oath—“If I do this, may it be so”—conveys the tone of agreement and trustworthiness…