C.S. Lewis’s The Four Loves was published in 1960.
The book developed from a series of BBC radio talks that Lewis gave in 1958. In it, he examines four Greek concepts associated with kinds of love: affection, friendship, erotic love, and self-giving love. The English terms commonly used for these are affection, friendship, eros, and charity.
Lewis does not present the four categories as completely isolated emotions. He discusses how natural loves can be valuable while also becoming distorted when treated as ultimate or self-sufficient. The book therefore combines literary reflection, philosophical argument, and Christian theology.
The Four Loves belongs to the later part of Lewis’s writing career, following major works such as Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain. Its publication date is sometimes confused with the 1961 publication of A Grief Observed, another late Lewis book with a markedly different subject and tone.