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Essay Philosophy-325 - Love is an Illusion
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This is a 420-word essay on Schopenhauer's idea that love is an illusion and why humans use love and relationships to further their species
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Philosophy 325March 5, 2018
Journal 5
Schopenhauer describes love as an illusion of the ultimate goal of continuing the human
species. He believes that humans think of love as a special and personal thing and that it is
something that is true to them and their reality. He claims that humans find a false sense of
happiness through loving another person and that the feeling of love is solely for the sake of
themselves and the other person involved. However, Schopenhauer outlines the fact that all of
this is a false illusion that humans have created overtime that leads to furthering our species.
I believe that Schopenhauer makes a great point here. It is true that our biological
nature is the ultimate driving factor in most of our decisions. Evolution requires that a species
continues to reproduce and pass on the best genes to our offspring. It is a force of nature that
cannot be overlooked or ignored and the way in which Schopenhauer describes this process is
illuminating and quite valid.
It is true that humans must procreate to keep our species alive and because we have the
intellectual capacity and ability to communicate through language which other animals do not
possess, we were involuntarily forced to find reasoning for our actions. Procreation does not
require love or a relationship in any sense of the word, but it certainly has shown to help
continue the process – something many other animals have not had over time. Maintaining
love between a man and a woman gives humans the resources and strength to not only
continuously reproduce, but to keep their offspring alive and healthy. This in turn, leads to
higher populations in the human species and the consistency needed to keep humans alive and
strong.
Schopenhauer discusses how love is just our sexual instincts misleading us into
reproducing and thinking we’re doing a good thing for ourselves as individuals when in fact
we’re actually helping out the entire human race. I don’t necessarily agree with his idea though
that we should free ourselves from love. Love has become an adaptation to the process of
reproducing but it’s not such a negative thing like he makes it out to be. Not only is there
nothing wrong with loving another person in a romantic way and reproducing, but there is also
no harm in continuing our population and keeping the human species alive. I actually believe
that this is a positive adaptation that humans possess and other animals have been shown to
care for individuals as well.
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