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The question was posed in class whether animals experience love, but it was quickly dismissed.  Clearly this is not something that we can determine with any certainty (unless we manage to find an fMRI “brain pattern” for love).  However, I think that there is a chance that animals do experience love in a similar manner as we do.  Vidya described love as a cultural phenomenon; however, we find that people from all cultures experience love.  Perhaps we only describe it as a cultural phenomenon because we cannot yet describe it as a biological phenomenon.  But the fact is that for a monogamous species that requires help from the father in caring for the young, love is advantageous and helps to perpetrate the species.  As described in the article, the initial passionate love brings a pair together, and the enduring, companionship love creates a strong bong between the two without getting in the way of caring for children.  This description does not seem exclusive to humans.  Evolutionary speaking, why wouldn’t animals experience love?  Examples of pair-bonding in voles and albatrosses that reunite year after year demonstrate a desire to be together, attachment, addictive behavior, and sexual arousal.  It is harder to determine if they experience other attributes of love that we described such caring for the other’s well-being.

            I’m not saying that I necessarily believe that animals experience love.  If they do, it is clearly manifested differently and limited by the fact that they cannot communicate with each other to the same extent as humans can (as far as we can tell).  I am only asserting that we may have disregarded the possibility that animals can love too quickly.