"Schopenhauer innovates by introducing the issue of sexuality into western philosophy. Of course, his assessment of it is not an encouraging one. For him, it embodies the will to life more strongly than any other urge or desire; hence it is responsible for the misery of the human condition more than anything else. Even the most elevated form of romantic love is nothing but a mental addition or justification for the natural need for sex and the species' desire to maintain itself. After succumbing to our sexual desires, he says, we realize that we have once again been deceived by the instinct of survival that seeks procreation through us. The lessening of sexual desire with age is thus to be welcomed as a liberation. Needless to say, Schopenhauer remained celibate throughout his life." Schopenhauer, New world encyclopedia.

Is Love an Illusion ? What is the relationship between Love and Sexual Impulse ? Schopenhauer gives us a new way of thinking about relationships between men and women.

A rising star in philosophy examines the cultural, social, and scientific interpretations of love to answer one of our most enduring questions What is love? Aside from being the title of many a popular love song, this is one of life's perennial questions. In What Love Is, philosopher Carrie Jenkins offers a bold new theory on the nature of romantic love that reconciles its humanistic and scientific components. Love can be a social construct (the idea of a perfect fairy tale romance) and a physical manifestation (those anxiety- inducing heart palpitations); we must recognize its complexities and decide for ourselves how to love. Motivated by her own polyamorous relationships, she examines the ways in which our parameters of love have recently changed-to be more accepting of homosexual, interracial, and non-monogamous relationships-and how they will continue to evolve in the future. Full of anecdotal, cultural, and scientific reflections on love, What Love Is is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand what it means to say "I love you." Whether young or old, gay or straight, male or female, polyamorous or monogamous, this book will help each of us decide for ourselves how we choose to love.

Is sex metaphysical? This is to say, does it have a purpose and a nature that is encoded in the very construct of the universe? These are the questions the author takes up in this day and age where most everything is up for grabs. This writing is not without an examination of sensitive issues and explicit terms. Think of it as a third way, if you will. It resides between the "fixed" identity of our declining religions and the "fluid" identity of the emerging L,G,B,T,Q movement. In that it presents to us all another choice. In the end, it is about a construct for sexual balance that any reader can understand and use as a guide for his or her life. Keywords: Metaphysics, Sex, Relationship, Procreation, Soul, Life, Birth, Love, Desire, Healing

The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Love offers a wide array of original essays from leading philosophers on the nature and value of love.