Love (Drugs), Happiness, and Morality.
Bioethics February 1, 2026 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1111/bioe.70043 via PubMed
Summary
Happiness, love, and morality are interconnected in a triple circularly supportive relationship. Love reinforces moral actions, which in turn promote happiness. Conversely, happiness encourages prosocial behavior that fosters loving relationships, leading to moral behavior. The paper suggests that the use of love-enhancing substances, particularly psilocybin, along with guided meditation, can deepen this relationship. It argues that voluntary use of these substances may be a more effective approach to moral enhancement than enforcing moral behavior through prevention of harm.
Study at a glance
| Key finding | The paper proposes that the use of love-enhancing substances like psilocybin can significantly deepen the supportive relationship between love, happiness, and morality. |
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Abstract
Various authors, including myself, have argued that happiness and morality operate in a circularly supportive relationship. In this paper, love will be added to this relationship. The new triple correlation will be explored through the following lens: not only do love and happiness reinforce moral action, but they appear to be in a triple circularly supportive relationship. Moral behavior is frequently grounded in love; love encourages prosocial behavior; prosocial behavior increases happiness; happiness, in turn, enhances the inclination of most people to act morally most of the time. Argued from the opposite direction: happiness tends to encourage prosocial behavior in most people most of the time; prosocial behavior is conducive to the development of loving relationships; love induces us to behave morally toward the people we love. The argument presented here will also propose that this triple circular reinforcement can be significantly deepened and sustained through a careful use of love-enhancing substances, aided by guided meditation-particularly in the case of the psychedelic psilocybin. It will be concluded that humans will be motivated to use love drugs because they tend to increase their happiness. Consequently, a voluntary use of love drugs is a more effective means of moral (bio-)enhancement than is the prevention of "ultimate harm" that is based on compulsory moral enhancement.