Interesting statement....do you agree???

[IDLEchild]

Sexuality has often been described as a way of grounding the higher intellectual thoughts.

Interesting

Pornography tends to get the philosopher thinking earthy physical thoughts. So in this way it distracts from the higher pursuits.

Hmmm....


This was taken from another board. The user posted the response to a question but, for now, the question doesn't matter so much as this statement.

I found this poster's reponse very intriguing because I do not agree very much with this POV. Isn't sexuality a form of divine inspiration for resplendent, analytical thoughts in Philosophy? or any other art?...Marquis de sade would agree.

Or do you take the stance of no sexual deviances when it comes to higher thought? that Earthly pleasure such as sex are an distraction for the quest of ultimate truth?

Please do not post about how good sex is. We all know how good it is. But does sex take away from a man's conciousness, that which seeks higher ground but is left without flight due to the urges he can not let go of?

 

[Squiggy]

Can't buy into that at all.. Sounds more like someone with more than enough time to make up excuses for why he isn't getting any....

 

[IDLEchild]

According to Socrates through Plato's Phaedo

The Body knows pleasure through senses, whereas the sould gains wisdom through the intellect. The ultimate of philosphy, can be achieved only when the sould is no longer deceived by sessual pleasures. So, the Philosopher's soul longing to be free of bodily wants , desires an escape fom the body's sntrapment.

This is the most important part: From body's lusts and fears come fighting, greed and warbut from the intelelct come justice and beauty.

This is also taken from that thread albeit a different poster

Does it help to change anyones opinion if argument for the seclusion of sex from philosophy was supported by higher sources?

I do not know the validity of this information seeing as how i have never read any works from Socrates or Plato.

 

[Ms Ann Thrope]

The pursuit of sensual gratification is driven by a multitude of forces. There is the simple desire for pleasure, for instance, which can be complicated by the introduction of other compulsions: lust for power, an outlet for aggression, an escape from daily life. The need for the species to procreate and thus protect the gene pool is rewarded by what many see as a pleasurable experience, -- a learned behaviour, in other words. Other sensual experiences are likewise perceived as positive because they contain illusions of comfort or safety, another way to protect that DNA.

Whether or not the exercise of pleasure seeking becomes a transcendent experience leading to new levels of consciousness (shared or solitary), or a criminal act against another body, is decided by cultural tendencies. The act itself, I believe, is innocent of any negative effect on an individual's intellectual or spiritual proclivities. It is the actor's intent and society's reception that makes the difference.