The theory which fits so well into Schopenhauer's metaphysics has,
without it, neither sense nor support. There is no instinct of
philoprogenitiveness, but rather a pairing-instinct, and in addition to
this a conscious desire for offspring. The difference between these two
instincts is great, for as a rule, the pairing-instinct is not
accompanied by a wish for children (that it should be so unconsciously
is a theory not worth considering seriously), and the longing for
children very frequently exists without any sexual desire; to
manufacture an instinct out of those two inherently dissimilar impulses
is fantastic metaphysics and not spiritual reality. The history of
antiquity furnishes ample proof of my contention, for in the days of the
remote past the sexual impulse had its special domain, as well as the
wish for progeny, which was often regarded in the light of a duty.
The legend of the instinct of philoprogenitiveness which is to-day so
universally believed, is undoubtedly the result of the general feeling
that sexual intercourse as such is base and degrading.
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