Is there more to Eroticism than Sex?
The greek word Eros is the root for our word erotic, ie: that which has the property of eros. But what does it mean? Is that which is erotic only that which is sexual, or does it mean more?
Sorry if you thought this was a blog about sex or my sexual exploits - it's not. This log entry is a question about what eros is, and if there is more to it than sex. If you think you know, please read on and tell me if I get it right at the end.
The word eros is also translated love. How did the word for love and sexuality get to be so they can be interchanged in our vocabulary? Does our vocabulary do the original (or the extistent) term justice? (Justice: that's another funny term the topic for another entry).
It is my argument that the word eros DID have a broader meaning than we have it today, and that the meaning of the word today, the decedent of it (if you will) is a debased and banal (sp) degeneration.
This is my theory, I believe the full extension of eros and eroticism should not include only sexual intercourse, and the feelings and emotions that accompany the forethought and action thereof, but in ALL intercourse. In fact, I think eros is a word describing and governing the meaning of the continuum of all erotic activity, from love making (the goal of which is to produce a deeper friendship and relation to humans possibly (maybe even hopefully) with the result of another human born in love and from love) where (most importantly) wills or intentions (or maybe even souls) are consensually intermixed, through the "middle" of discussion, or verbal intercourse from dialectic (a friendly discussion) to eristic (a debate enterred into only to verbally and morally impose one's will upon another), to finally combat, where one seeks to violently impose their will upon the other and not have the other will imposed upon them in turn, the result of which can be death - the taking away of life in malice.
Notice a few things about my theory. 1) There is a continuum - the erotic is always combination of desire and will (sans logos, ie: no reason, but will and desire from the Platonic psyche or soul) - sex and death (as in Broch's Unknown Quantity). 2) I didn't moralize any of that description. I didn't say one expression of eros was better or worse. This is on purpose - I do not believe one expression or the other is necessarily right or wrong in ALL contexts, only where the Good will be de-minished / deharmonized.
However, my interpretation of Plato's conception of the Good can wait for another entry. This is sufficient, I think, to expound my view of eroticism - I think it is clear that my view is that there is more to it than sex - and in our debased culture (thanks to modern and post-modern philosophy) it is something we have a) forgotten and b) hampering our enoblement.
I leave it now to you, dear reader, to comment and question me as you see fit. If not, then I suppose my thoughts are only worthy of the interest of search engine spider bots who may be cognizant of it enough in the future to comment (ala Alice foundation). Until that time, then let my post serve as the endless spam which clutters our global inter network, and a personal sounding board to practice my central vice - to opine.
josh
Sorry if you thought this was a blog about sex or my sexual exploits - it's not. This log entry is a question about what eros is, and if there is more to it than sex. If you think you know, please read on and tell me if I get it right at the end.
The word eros is also translated love. How did the word for love and sexuality get to be so they can be interchanged in our vocabulary? Does our vocabulary do the original (or the extistent) term justice? (Justice: that's another funny term the topic for another entry).
It is my argument that the word eros DID have a broader meaning than we have it today, and that the meaning of the word today, the decedent of it (if you will) is a debased and banal (sp) degeneration.
This is my theory, I believe the full extension of eros and eroticism should not include only sexual intercourse, and the feelings and emotions that accompany the forethought and action thereof, but in ALL intercourse. In fact, I think eros is a word describing and governing the meaning of the continuum of all erotic activity, from love making (the goal of which is to produce a deeper friendship and relation to humans possibly (maybe even hopefully) with the result of another human born in love and from love) where (most importantly) wills or intentions (or maybe even souls) are consensually intermixed, through the "middle" of discussion, or verbal intercourse from dialectic (a friendly discussion) to eristic (a debate enterred into only to verbally and morally impose one's will upon another), to finally combat, where one seeks to violently impose their will upon the other and not have the other will imposed upon them in turn, the result of which can be death - the taking away of life in malice.
Notice a few things about my theory. 1) There is a continuum - the erotic is always combination of desire and will (sans logos, ie: no reason, but will and desire from the Platonic psyche or soul) - sex and death (as in Broch's Unknown Quantity). 2) I didn't moralize any of that description. I didn't say one expression of eros was better or worse. This is on purpose - I do not believe one expression or the other is necessarily right or wrong in ALL contexts, only where the Good will be de-minished / deharmonized.
However, my interpretation of Plato's conception of the Good can wait for another entry. This is sufficient, I think, to expound my view of eroticism - I think it is clear that my view is that there is more to it than sex - and in our debased culture (thanks to modern and post-modern philosophy) it is something we have a) forgotten and b) hampering our enoblement.
I leave it now to you, dear reader, to comment and question me as you see fit. If not, then I suppose my thoughts are only worthy of the interest of search engine spider bots who may be cognizant of it enough in the future to comment (ala Alice foundation). Until that time, then let my post serve as the endless spam which clutters our global inter network, and a personal sounding board to practice my central vice - to opine.
josh
posted by JB @ 3:38 PM
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