Influential figures from Gandhi to the Dalai Lama have advocated practicing “unconditional love,” claiming that we should love others without expecting anything in return. Sometimes, people interpret this idea as meaning that we should “love” a particular person (such as a family member) without regard for his or her flaws, value to us, or behavior. Other times, people take it to mean that we should “love” all people equally, as in the biblical command to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” But is such a thing even possible, let alone desirable?
