I told a girl that I loved her, she asked if I meant "érōs", "philía", or "agápē".
We all know that philosophy is the love of wisdom. Some think that wisdom means true knowledge; hence, philosophy becomes the love of true knowledge. To me though wisdom is practical knowledge; so philosophy becomes something more like the love of knowing how to live well. So much for sophía. Being a romantic I'm slightly more interested in love, in particular which Greek word for love best captures a love of wisdom. I have not studied Greek as a language, and by no means am I an expert about these things, but from what I have managed to piece together there are three main words for love.
Firstly, there is agápē, which i think of as being downwards love. It is an altruistic love that is best captured by the love god showed us when he sacrificed his only son to save us. The reason for seeing it as being downwards love is that the object of agápē is something below you. As man is below god, the people who receive my charity are below me. I think it almost goes without saying that this is not the love that characterises a philosophers love of wisdom.
Next, there is philía, which I think of as being sideways love. It is a brotherly love that is best captured by the love between family members and friends. The reason for seeing it as being sideways love is that the object of philía is pretty much on the same level as you. I love my brother, and my brother loves me in return, and philía correctly describes the relationship in both directions. Strangely this is the word that is used to describe a philosophers love of wisdom. But doing so supposes that you are on equal terms with wisdom. This doesn't seem to square with the fact that the hero of philosophy, Socrates, is significant for expressing his own lack of wisdom and showing the same is true of everyone that he entered into discussion with. If a philosopher thought he was wise, then he would not be, and philía to me suggests that the philosopher thinks they are on the level with wisdom.
Lastly is érōs, which I think of as being an upwards love. It is a lusty love that is traditionally rendered as being romantic or erotic love. The reason for seeing it as being upwards love is that érōs is determined by the higher beauty and worthiness of the object being loved. It is a love of something that you do not have, but that you are you pursuing with your whole self. This is exactly the sort of love that a philosopher should have towards wisdom. To truly learn you must first realise that you lack knowledge. Once you realise this, yet see that it is pure and beautiful and worthy, then no obstacle will be great enough to stand in the way of you pursuing it with all your life. It is for these reasons that I believe Philosophy would be more accurately named Erosophy.
[edit: L2speelnoob]