In his works, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) pointed out that love relationships often fail because people will initially idealize their beloved, and experience disappointment when they realise that their expectations do not match reality. Schopenhauer presented those views in “The world as will and representation” (1818) and in “Parerga and Paralipomena” (1851). He warned readers against…

The ideas of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) on love and relationships contain fundamental mistakes. Schopenhauer did not devote sufficient attention to these matters. As a result, his observations and conclusions leave a lot to be desired. His conception of love and relationships is instinctual. They are driven by the will (“life force”), argues Schopenhauer, and this…

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) had unduly pessimistic, gloomy ideas on love and relationships. The study of his ideas in this respect serves an educational purpose because it enables us to learn from Schopenhauer’s mistakes. Schopenhauer’s theory of the will (“life force”) underlies his views on love and relationships. This theory predicts that the will is constantly…