Which C.S. Lewis book, published in 1960, examines four kinds of love?

C.S. Lewis’s book published in 1960 and examining four kinds of love is The Four Loves.

The book grew from a series of talks Lewis prepared for broadcast by the BBC in 1958. It develops ideas about love through four Greek terms: storge, philia, eros, and agape. Lewis uses these terms to distinguish affection, friendship, romantic love, and charitable or self-giving love.

The Four Loves is not a novel or a work of fictional theology. It is a Christian apologetic and philosophical discussion that combines classical terminology, literary examples, and Lewis’s reflections on human relationships. The book appeared during the later part of his writing career, after major works such as Mere Christianity and The Chronicles of Narnia.

A common mix-up is confusing The Four Loves with Lewis’s 1940 book The Problem of Pain, which focuses on suffering and the problem of evil. The Four Loves instead asks how different forms of love function, flourish, and sometimes become distorted when treated as ultimate ends.