Just in time for Valentine's Day: a presentation of lust's better
angels. Of course, Blackburn (Philosophy/Cambridge Univ.; Being
Good, 2001, etc.) admits in this third volume from the New York
Public Library/Oxford University Press series on the seven deadly
sins, there is lust for power, lust for wealth, lust for lots of
things. But venery, the yearning for sex, is the lust that really
engages our interest. Blackburn offers exegesis on the spotted
history of lust since Eden. He enlists high-minded Plato and the
Greeks, calls upon lofty Shakespeare, reviews Augustine and the
theology of sex, marshals the views of Kant and Hobbes, trots out
Sappho, Sartre, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. He writes of
prostitution, pornography, and feminist objection to
objectification. "Lust knows no decorum," our instructor allows.
His gnostic treatise, nevertheless, is quite decorous, indeed. For
all the wanton glances, the brief text is cool, not tumid with
human fervor; it is slick, but hardly lubricious, and it is fully
footnoted. In true-blue British fashion, Blackburn's upper lip
remains quite stiff. There's more sense here than sensuality,
though ultimately he does grant that lust aims simply at "a good
lay." A thoughtfully burnished essay on a titillating topic.
(Illustrated) (Kirkus Reviews)
Lust, says Simon Blackburn, is furtive, headlong, always sizing up opportunities. It is a trail of clothing in the hallway, the trashy cousin of love. But be that as it may, the aim of this delightful book is to rescue lust "from the denunciations of old men of the deserts, to deliver it from the pallid and envious confessor and the stocks and pillories of the Puritans, to drag it from the category of sin to that of virtue." Blackburn, author of such popular philosophy books as Think and Being Good, here offers a sharp-edged probe into the heart of lust, blending together insight from some of the world's greatest thinkers on sex, human nature, and our common cultural foibles. Blackburn takes a wide ranging, historical approach, discussing lust as viewed by Aristophanes and Plato, lust in the light of the Stoic mistrust of emotion, and the Christian fear of the flesh that catapulted lust to the level of deadly sin. He describes how philosophical pessimists like Schopenhauer and Sartre contributed to our thinking about lust and explores the false starts in understanding lust represented by Freud, Kinsey, and modern "evolutionary psychology." But most important, Blackburn reminds us that lust is also life-affirming, invigorating, fun. He points to the work of David Hume (Blackburn's favorite philosopher) who saw lust not only as a sensual delight but also "a joy of the mind." Written by one of the most eminent living philosophers, attractively illustrated and colorfully packaged, Lust is a book that anyone would lust over.
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