C.S. Lewis’s The Four Loves was published in 1960. The book examines four Greek terms connected with different kinds of love: affection, friendship, erotic love, and charity.
Lewis discusses storge as natural affection, philia as friendship, eros as romantic or sexual love, and agape as self-giving love. English translations and editions may use slightly different wording for these categories, but the Greek vocabulary is the organizing framework of the book.
The work developed from a BBC radio broadcast series, though it is not the same project as Lewis’s earlier broadcast talks later collected as Mere Christianity. That distinction matters because both works are associated with Lewis’s public religious writing.
The Four Loves appeared late in Lewis’s life, after major works such as The Problem of Pain, Mere Christianity, and the Narnia books had already established his reputation. It remains popular because it connects abstract theology with recognizable experiences of family, friendship, romance, and generosity.