Question
Class: philosophy of love and sex
Question : What is Goldman’s definition of sexual desire? How well does he justify this definition? Discuss with reference to at least two apparent counter-examples–cases in which it appears that a desire is sexual, but which does not fit his definition, or cases in which a desire appears to fit his definition but does not seem to be a sexual desire
Solution
Goldman’s Definition of Sexual Desire
The concept of sex is a very challenging topic, especially while trying to define it. Nonetheless, many thinkers are dedicated to the concept of sex, including Alan Goldman. According to Goldman, people continue to misinterpret sex in their philosophical works. He also criticizes the predominant type of analysis he refers to as “means-end analysis” (Halwani, 2018). This analysis views sexual activity in terms of fulfilling a necessary external purpose or goal such as expressing love, interpersonal awareness, simple communication or reproduction.
Alternatively, Goldman proposes a simple analysis where he defines sexual desire as the “desire for contact with another person’s body and for the pleasure which such contact produces” (Benatar et al., 2007). Additionally, to Goldman, any activity that tends to fulfill the proposed agent’s desire is a sexual activity. In other words, as he suggests, sexual pleasure is the only goal for sex and nothing more (Halwani, 2020). He also argues there must be a specific body of an individual for a desire to be viewed as sexual. Therefore, most of the common sex where genitals are involved fall under this category. Also, an activity aiming to fulfill the bodily contact desire and the pressure experienced in such contact without affections or feelings expressed sufficiently fit in the sexual activity category. Caressing and kissing may sometimes not involve genital symptoms of sexual activity, but if they display the qualities, they can be categorized as sexual…………for help with this assignment contact us via email Address: consulttutor10@gmail.com