Question Can you be blamed for not loving someone? For instance, it's not uncommon for children to accuse their parents of not loving them--and here, the claim is not simply that the parents didn't act appropriately (though this is typically part of the problem), but that they don't possess actual feelings of love or affection or care. While it's easy to appreciate the force of complaints like this, I wonder whether it's ultimately impossible to choose who you love, so that one cannot be blamed for failing to love another.

Accepted:

September 15, 2010