Uma ontologia do amor: a reunião dos separados e a superação da vida fragmentada a partir de Paul Tillich

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze how Paul Tillich understands and relates the concepts of love and ontology in his various works. It is possible to perceive throughout the text that Tillich presents love as an ethical principle and ontological foundation and, therefore, brings with it many ambiguities. In this way, he explores the concept of love from what he calls "different qualities", taking as reference the greek understandings of eros, philia, epithymia (or libido) and agape. The hypothesis that guides this work is that there is a line of reasoning present in Tillich's thought, which seems at all times to insist on overcoming the ambiguities of life and the fragmentary character to which the human being is subjected. Hence, essential questions such as his understanding of ontology, his understanding of the importance of myth in religious language, and his interpretation of the fall as the transition from the essence to the existence that results in existential alienation are discussed. But the focus of the dissertation is to explore how Tillich presents the power of love as one that reunites human being to God, the foundation of his being; with his neighbor; and especially with himself. Finally, the text exposes how Tillich understands that the relationship between agape and eros is essential for understanding love as a single and indivisible force, capable of closing the ambiguities of life and presenting itself as grace to the human being, opening possibilities for overcoming the laws and the problematic of the contextualization of ethics in the historical transitions of the world.