Nagel's Account Of Sexual Perversion

Sexual drives are the basis of human behaviour because the goal of most humans is to find a sexual partner for comfort and reproduction. When the narrator visits his lover’s grave, he reminisces about the times with his lover and is overwhelmed by grief. The narrator longs to be loved as he says, “Then I saw it was getting dark, and a strange, mad wish, the wish of a despairing lover, seized me” (Maupassant 151). The loss of his lover penetrates his mental anguish as it is human nature to desire to be loved. Thus, he is greatly affected by the loss of his sexual partner, as sexual drives often dictate behaviour.

During the late 19th century, the ideals of middle-class, respectable sexuality were in a state of flux. Published findings by renowned psychiatrists such as Richard von Krafft-Ebbing and Sigmund Freud helped to recreate and build upon sexual knowledge, establishing never before heard of terms for a variety of sexual behaviors. Often, therein lies an implicit bias when codifying topics of study. Therefore, due to the major shifts during the late 19th and early 20th century in how sexuality is classified scientifically and medically, psychiatry plays a primary role in creating concepts such as “normal” and “abnormal” sexuality.

In the beginning of its development the libido (all erotic tendencies, all capacity for love) in each individual is directed towards the self…It is only until later that, in association with the chief natural functions, the libido flows over and beyond the ego towards objects outside the self, and it is not until then are we able to recognize the libidinal trends as such and distinguish them for the ego-instincts. (Freud, "One of the Difficulties to Psycho-Analysis," 3)

“In men, in general, sexual desire is inherent and spontaneous” whereas “in the other sex, the desire is dormant, if not non-existent, till excited” (457). Greg’s terminology is extremely power-laden. “Spontaneous” has the connotation of energy and activity, whereas “dormant” and “victim” imply inactivity. An important concept is the assumption that men, the “coarser sex,” act on women, the “weaker sex” (457).

Sexuality is defined as one’s sexual character which possesses the structural and functional traits of sex. In the Renaissance, this definition was accompanied with ideologies of gender. This incorporated knowledge led to their notions of the female being inferior to the male based on what was

For example, if a man desires a woman as an object of his sexual impulse and not because of who she is as a person, her humanity is no longer a concern to him. The only object of his desire is sex, so humanity is set aside. The two will direct all actions towards sex alone, thus sacrificing humanity for sex. Humanity then becomes a way to satisfy their desires, which is similar to the nature of animals. Humans are moral beings and our ability to reason distinguishes us from animals, but sexual desire poses a threat to our humanity. Kant also mentions that it is immoral if people allow themselves to be used for profit as an object of another’s desire. They are disposing themselves, which makes them a “thing” that the other satisfies his or her appetite with. Ultimately, the person is surrendering their humanity for the other’s sexual impulse, which puts their morality at risk. I think sexual desire has become more prevalent in today’s society simply because sex is no longer seen as a sacred action. We live in a society where sex is fast, easy and a person does not have to work hard for it, they can get it whenever they please. Kant’s views on immoral sexual impulses have reached their peak in recent generations and people believe it is okay to have one-night stands, go to strip clubs or even buy escorts to satisfy their appetites. It is also known as casual sex and the individuals involved in this lifestyle are looking to fulfill their desires and appetite at the cost of

The world now becomes a state of change or flux. Human beings act toward others and objects on the basis of the meanings that such things have for them but meanings are being continually constructed and modified through interaction. The fundamental approach is simple put: nothing is sexual but naming makes it so. Sexuality is a social construct learned in interaction with others. This is not to deny biological facts. It is simply to assert that things do not have sex meanings in their own right. They have to be bestowed upon them through sexual encounters. The mind has to define something as sexual before it is sexual in

There has been much level headed discussion concerning why individuals carry out sexual violations. To the extent to what causes individuals to wind up sex wrongdoers, there is no genuine response to this inquiry. No single component can completely decipher why somebody submits a sexual offense, however it is trusted that some blend of variables may join to increment sexual deviancy significantly. These components incorporate natural, fortuitous, ecological, and sociocultural parts of the individual, depicting the advancement of anomalous sexual expression through the same instruments by which traditional sexuality is likewise learned (Terry and Tallon). There are various sub-hypotheses which have been intended to clarify the onset of

Human sexuality is a common phrase for all, and anything, pertaining to the feelings and behaviors of sex for the human race. Sexuality has been a topic that has been discussed and studied for as far back as 1000 years B.C. and is still being studied today. As the discussion of sexuality has progressed through history, theories have been created based on research and experiments that scholars have implemented, based on their own perceptions of human behavior. Out of the many theories that pose to explain sexual behavior, Sexuality Now explained ten that are seemed to be the most overlapped, and built off of theories. Of these theories, two that were discussed in the text were the behavioral and sociological theory. These two theories cover some of the basic ideas of what could possibly influence a person’s sexuality.

As Freud points out, the purpose and meaning of fetish has been the same for all analysis. In the first place, the term revealed so naturally to him and it was so compelling that she feels that all his analysis on all cases of fetishism will have the same solution. At first, he tips the reader by saying a fetish is a substitute for a penis. However, he feels the reader will be disappointed with his argument and changes his mind fast enough to state that it is not meant to substitute a penis, but an important penis in the childhood which later got lost. In other words, it is normal to be lost at some point in life, but this fetish is normally designed to prevent it from being extinct. To make is clearer, a fetish serves as a substitute for a woman’s penis that one of the little boys believed in and did not wish to lose

According to the philosopher Thomas Nagel, the concept of “sexual perversion” falls under the rubric of psychological rather than biological, anatomical, or reproductive categories. Psychological rather than physiological since sexual perversion does not occur in lower life forms and it is the psychological aspect of it that makes the distinction. Not just for reproduction

Freud argued that an individual’s instinctual drive was sexually orientated. In the same way that “hunger seeks nutrition,

In order to find human fulfillment, one must find God of Jesus Christ as well. Erotic loving is our desire for this fulfillment, which can be seen through eros. Human nature can be simply defined

Throughout history it is evident that human sexuality changes do to religious, governmental and societal influences. The perception of human sexuality has gone through many changes such as being very open and unlabeled activity; to being very “conservative” and a topic that shouldn’t be talked about in public or at all. In any case, human sexuality has always been a topic of interest because humans are sexual beings who want to understand the consciousness of themselves as male or female and see their personal response when encountered in erotic experiences with other individuals. Unlike many other species whose sexual force is strictly for reproduction, human’s sexual drive seems to be driven by many factors that intertwine with each other which leads to very different outcomes. Do to these obscure human emotions and personal gratification, sex is always shown every culture’s art, literature, social norms, and laws.

The Hegelian understanding of the master-slave dialectic tells us that when two beings that have not yet achieved self-consciousness come in contact with one another, they engage in a conflict to try to identify self-consciousness, and the only way to do that is to realize self-consciousness through comparison with the other person. This conflict between two people leads to a struggle to the death where one person values life over liberty, and the other values liberty over life, and whoever values life over liberty thus concedes and is identified as the slave, making the other the master. What this paper aims to analyze is how we can use the Hegelian master-slave dialectic to understand or contrast the Freudian analysis of libido versus the