Editing Affection (section)

==Restricted definition==
[[File:Smooches (baby and child kiss).jpg|thumb|right|A young girl kisses a baby on the cheek.]]

Sometimes the term is restricted to emotional states directed towards living entities, including humans and [[Animal|animals.]] Affection is often compared with passion,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=94G2AgAAQBAJ&q=affection+vs+passion&pg=PA1 |title=Cuba and the Politics of Passion |first=Damián J. |last=Fernández |date=1 January 2010 |publisher=University of Texas Press |access-date=19 November 2017 |via=Google Books |isbn=9780292782020}}</ref> stemming from the Greek word {{transliteration|grc|[[pathos]]}}. Consequently, references to affection are found in the works of philosophers such as [[René Descartes]],<ref>{{cite web |author=Descartes |first=René |title=The Passions of the Soul |url=https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/descartes1649part2.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/descartes1649part2.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |access-date=19 November 2017 |website=Early Modern Philosophy}}</ref> [[Baruch Spinoza]],<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2015/entries/spinoza-psychological/ |chapter=Spinoza's Psychological Theory |first=Michael |last=LeBuffe |editor-first=Edward N. |editor-last=Zalta |date=19 November 2017 |title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=19 November 2017}}</ref> and early British ethicists. Despite these associations, it is commonly differentiated from passion on various grounds. Some definitions of affection exclude feelings of anxiety or heightened excitement, elements typically linked to passion. In this narrower context, the term holds significance in ethical frameworks, particularly concerning social or parental ''affections'', forming a facet of moral duties<ref name="EB1911"/> and virtue. Ethical perspectives may hinge on whether affection is perceived as voluntary.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sidgwick|first=Henry|url=http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/sidgwick1874book4.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/sidgwick1874book4.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=The Methods of Ethics |website=Early Modern Philosophy |access-date=19 November 2017}}</ref>