You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas and conversations to spark

your curiosity every day.

I'm your host, Elise Hugh.

What if the secret to a good life isn't just what you achieve, but who you love?

In this talk, drawing on the wisdom of Aristotle, the Gospels of Jesus, and modern social

psychology, philosopher Megan Sullivan shares why true bonds come from embracing vulnerability,

even with strangers, and why opening ourselves up to the full spectrum of human experience

can help us expand our capacity for love and connection.

So I'm a philosopher at the University of Notre Dame, where I teach a very popular course on the good life. In my career,

I have corrupted thousands of youth with philosophy, and tonight I'm here to try to corrupt you

with what I think is one of the most important but least appreciated ideas in the philosophy

of the good life today. Most major philosophers in nearly every major world religion

puts the virtue of love at the center of the good life.

But what exactly does it mean to practice this virtue?

To get my students thinking about this,

I give them a thought experiment. Suppose I had a

pill, and if you took it, it would cause you to experience love for absolutely anyone you met. Would you

take it? That's this to thousands of students, and the answer I overwhelmingly get from my very earnest,

very Catholic freshman is no.

They wouldn't take the love everyone pill.

And in hearing their answers, I start to get some insight into how they're thinking about this virtue.

One of the most profound answers I ever heard

...