The term ars erotica refers to the styles and techniques of lovemaking with the honorific title of art. But in what sense are these practices artistic and how do they contribute to the aesthetics and ethics of self-cultivation in the art of living? In this book, Richard Shusterman offers a critical, comparative analysis of the erotic theories proposed by the most influential premodern cultural traditions that shaped our contemporary world. Beginning with ancient Greece, whose god of desiring love gave (...) eroticism its name, Shusterman examines the Judaeo-Christian biblical tradition and the classical erotic theories of Chinese, Indian, Islamic, and Japanese cultures, before concluding with medieval and Renaissance Europe. His exploration of their errors and insights shows how we could improve the quality of life and love today. By using the engine of eros to cultivate qualities of sensitivity, grace, skill, and self-mastery, we can reimagine a richer, more positive vision of sex education. (shrink)

La búsqueda de lo divino, que aparece en el cristianismo como un asunto espiritual, perfila ser tema de importancia para una mística agustiniana que tiene referencias a la figura de Dios, esto es, expresiones que intentan describir la naturaleza divina. Así pues, el santo de Hipona, a través de términos como luz y verdad, presenta los rasgos de un Dios que parece mostrarse tal como es, pero para alcanzar una visión tan inefable, es necesario el deseo de esta; una búsqueda (...) de Dios que, traducida en amor, es un proceso de ascenso a la verdad de lo divino permeado por ese intenso deseo de ello. De manera que un deseo de Dios posiblemente connota una erótica entendida como amor vehemente; el cual, para interés del presente artículo, puede resignificar la noción común de erótica y de sexualidad inherentes al carácter relacional del ser humano, a veces visto con sospecha. (shrink)

La erótica de la muerte es una noción ideada por Jacinto Choza que revela la ligazón originaria del eros con uno de los fenómenos más enigmáticos de la Historia de la Filosofía: la muerte. La felicidad pretendida, en virtud del eros y prometida por Dios, culmina con la eternidad a la hora de morir. El presente estudio aspira a elucidar las ideas cristalizadas en el Manual de Antropología filosófica, las cuales desarrollan la evolución que manifiesta el eros en su proceso (...) de consonancia con la muerte. (shrink)

The term ars erotica refers to the styles and techniques of lovemaking with the honorific title of art. But in what sense are these practices artistic and how do they contribute to the aesthetics and ethics of self-cultivation in the art of living? In this book, Richard Shusterman offers a critical, comparative analysis of the erotic theories proposed by the most influential premodern cultural traditions that shaped our contemporary world. Beginning with ancient Greece, whose god of desiring love gave (...) eroticism its name, Shusterman examines the Judaeo-Christian biblical tradition and the classical erotic theories of Chinese, Indian, Islamic, and Japanese cultures, before concluding with medieval and Renaissance Europe. His exploration of their errors and insights shows how we could improve the quality of life and love today. By using the engine of eros to cultivate qualities of sensitivity, grace, skill, and self-mastery, we can reimagine a richer, more positive vision of sex education. (shrink)

Las Mil y una noches es una colección de cuentos. En muchos de ellos se exponen saberes que se han ido elaborando en diversos pueblos a lo largo de la historia. Uno de ellos recoge la concepción que sobre el amor como tendencia hacia el saber creó y desarrolló la filosofía griega desde Platón. En este artículo se recuerda brevemente este proceso de construcción a través de la filosofía griega, el mundo cristiano y el islam medieval para esbozar finalmente el (...) cuento de las Mil y una noches. (shrink)

Although the primary locus for analyzing the role of desire in Hegel’s self-consciousness has been set upon the Phenomenology of Spirit, by moving toward the texts of his youth, especially the theological fragments written between 1794 and 1798, we find a series of tensions between desire, positivity, and totality that inform us about the deadlocks that the Hegelian system must have faced in order to be constituted. This confrontation, looked at from the point of view of the emphasis on identity, (...) and not, as the commentators who base themselves on Phenomenology claim, on otherness, is constituted as an enterprise not only of self-formation, but of erotic self-fruition. The article proposes, through a detailing of what, in Hegel, would lead us to Freud, an investigation into the meanings of desirant suffering in the prehistory of speculative philosophy. (shrink)

Resumen El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar la relevancia de la teoría informacional del conocimiento para el problema de la suerte epistémica. Argumento que el clásico enfoque de Dretske es equivalente a la condición de seguridad de Pritchard. Sin embargo, considero que esta manera de eludir la suerte epistémica exige lidiar con el llamado "problema de la generalidad". Argumento que una respuesta a este problema requiere una noción de seguridad diferente y propongo un enfoque informacional equivalente a esta versión (...) del requisito. Concluyo que este enfoque es preferible a la condición de seguridad propuesta porque desvela relaciones conceptuales entre los elementos que constituyen el conocimiento.The aim of this paper is to determine the relevance of an informational theory of knowledge to address recently discussed epistemic problems. I argue that Dretske's classical approach is equivalent to the safety condition proposed by Pritchard to avoid epistemic luck. However, I claim that Pritchard's condition has to be modified to avoid the so-called "generality problem" for reliabilism. I propose an alternative version of the requirement to deal with these problems and provide an equivalent informational condition. I conclude that this informational version is preferable since it reveals conceptual relationships between the constituents of knowledge. (shrink)

Para Aristóteles, a amizade é o acto de necessário mútuo amor que constitui, com seus três níveis, o cimento da «polis», a comunidade política, a «cidade». Pode ser estudada de acordo com as próprias categorias aristotélicas e a teoria da matéria e forma, potência e acto. Este trabalho, depois de analisar o que a amizade é como acto de amor, aplica tais teorias aristotélicas à compreensão da amizade.

Reseña Richard Shusterman (2021). Ars Erotica: Sex and Somaesthetics in the Classical Arts of Love. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

SHUSTERMANRICHARDCambridge University Press. 2021. pp. xvi+420. £23.

Richard Shusterman. Ars Erotica: Sex and Somaesthetics in the Classical Arts of Love. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021, 420 páginas. Yanina Benitez (ed.). Intersecciones. Reelaboraciones de la filosofía contemporánea y la estética filosófica. Porto: Cravo, 2020, 395 páginas.

O presente artigo examina os temas do desejo, da alteridade e da consciência na filosofia de O ser e nada para circunscrever as questões relativas ao problema do solipsismo e da consciência encarnada no existencialismo sartreano. Neste sentido, o texto situa o estatuto da relação erótica no existencialismo sartriano no contexto geral de sua discussão sobre a alteridade e o lugar destinado às carícias sexuais em suas descrições fenomenológicas. Portanto, o objetivo principal deste artigo é o de apontar um aspecto (...) alternativo para considerar o estado tipicamente conflituoso da relação entre as consciências no existencialismo sartriano. De acordo com nossa hipótese, é possível que as carícias sexuais possam representar um momento, ainda que instável, de reciprocidade carnal na relação entre as consciências na filosofia sartriana de O ser e o nada. (shrink)

Nuestro ensayo La erótica platónica busca ampliar la comprensión del concepto de Eros en Platón a partir del diálogo del Banquete. Buscamos presentar una visión genealógica sobre el origen, la aparición e importancia del concepto y su emoción sentimental en el contexto de la cultura griega en general y del mundo socrático, en lo particular, que nos presenta la visión platónica de la filosofía. A partir de los distintos personajes que conforman la obra, su autor nos va presentando distintas significaciones (...) del eros o amor para cada uno de ellos. Podemos comprender la visión del significado del tema en cuestión desde las vertientes poética, pedagógica, médica, mítica, sexual y filosófica. Esta última desplegada en la postura de Sócrates al referir la importancia que tuvo una mujer, Diotima de Mantinea, en su formación y comprensión del hecho erótico, tanto para su vida como para su visión de la filosofía. Al final del diálogo notaremos una descripción algo desbordada que da el discípulo socrático, Alcibíades, de su maestro y llegamos a comprender que la filosofía es un ejercicio amoroso por el deseo (carencia) del saber en el hombre y que el filósofo, a diferencia del hombre sabio que no busca ningún saber porque ya lo posee, será un entusiasta y enamorado permanente de la filosofía por sentir que su ser requiere una permanente búsqueda del conocimiento de sí gracias al lema socrático del conócete a ti mismo . On Plato`s erotic. An interpretationOur Platonic Er otic essay seeks to broaden the understanding of the concept of Eros in Plato's dialogue Banquet . We seek to present a genealogy of the origin, occurrence and importance of the concept and its sentimental emotion in the context of Greek culture in general and the Socratic world, in particular, that presents the Platonic view of philosophy. From the various characters that make up the work its author presents different meanings of Eros or love for each of them. We can understand the vision of the meaning of the subject matter from different perspectives: poetic, educational, medical, mythical, sexual and philosophical. The latter displayed in the position of Socrates in reference to the importance that a woman, Diotima of Mantinea, had in his training and understanding of the erotic fact, both for her life and her vision of philosophy. At the end of the dialogue there is a description -somewhat overwhelmed- of his teacher given by Alcibiades, the Socratic disciple. We then understand that philosophy is a loving exercise by desire of knowledge in man (lack of); thus the philosopher, unlike the wise man, who seeks no further knowledge because it already has it, will be an enthusiastic and permanent lover of philosophy since he feels that his being requires an ongoing search of self-knowledge by means of following the Socratic motto know thyself. (shrink)

El presente trabajo estudia la concepción erótica de la subjetividad en la Fenomenología del espíritu de Hegel. Las tesis que intentamos mostrar son dos. La primera es que la concepción erótica de la subjetividad tiene un sentido muy restringido: es la referencia negativa y puramente inmediata a la cosa viva, la aniquilación del objeto natural que no alcanza la completa negación del ser-otro porque la dimensión erótica de la subjetividad requiere e implica la autonomía del objeto en cuestión. La segunda (...) tesis es que, en cuanto posicionamiento práctico y negativo de la autoconciencia respecto de su objeto, la concepción erótica de la subjetividad no se limita al Capítulo IV, aunque es en este último, y específicamente en su parte introductoria, donde se establecen los caracteres propios de dicha concepción. (shrink)

This paper begins with a discussion of the scientia sexualis/ars erotica distinction, which Foucault first advances in History of Sexuality Vol. 1, and which has been employed by many scholars to do a variety of analytical work. Though Foucault has expressed his doubts regarding his conceptualization of the differences between Western and Eastern discourses of desire, he never entirely disowns the distinction. In fact, Foucault remains convinced that China must have an ars erotica. I will explore Foucault’s sources (...) of authority. To this end, I introduce the work of famous Dutch sinologist Robert Hans van Gulik, who published the tremendously influential Sexual Life in Ancient China in 1961, and also explore Joseph Needham’s view on Chinese sex. I argue that, Foucault, in his fierce polemic against the “Repressive Hypothesis”, himself imagined a utopian Other where pleasure and desire were organised differently. I end on a discuss on Orientalism and the project of “Sinography” of comparative literature scholars Haun Saussy, Eric Hayot and others. (shrink)

Metaphilosophy, Volume 53, Issue 4, Page 560-564, July 2022.

How would you feel about your husband, wife, or partner masturbating using pornography or erotica? For many, this would be a betrayal – a kind of cheating. I explore whether monogamous relationships should forbid solo masturbation using erotica and pornography, considering two possible objections: (1) the objection that such activity is a kind of infidelity; (2) the objection that such activity involves attitudes, usually attitudes towards women that are incompatible with an equal, loving relationship. I argue that the (...) use of erotic material in solo masturbation should not count as cheating. Solo use of pornography differs significantly from interpersonal sexual activity. Thus, unlike causal interpersonal sex, it does not undermine the role of sex within the relationship. Additionally, freedom to explore sexual fantasy through masturbation is an important element of sexual autonomy. Objection (2) holds against some but not all erotic material. Sexual enjoyment of pornography that depicts, or is produced by, suffering or degradation involves a way of seeing others that has implications for the user’s relationships with others, particularly sexual relationships. However, not all erotic material involves objectionable attitudes towards others. Thus partners should allow moderate use of some types of erotica in solo-masturbation. (shrink)

Diotima’s speech claims that philosophy ranks among the erōtica. The standard reading of this holds that erōs manifests in philosophical activity. This is puzzling. Eros has a reputation for overpowering the psyche, making reasoning impossible. The major interpretive discussion of this puzzle suggests that Diotima must therefore accept either non-rationalist philosophizing or rationalist erōs. This paper argues for an alternative. The “ancillary activities view” posits that the erōtica do not manifest erōs but are activities undertaken to achieve its telos. On (...) this view, love’s relationship to philosophy is as un-mysterious as wanting something and doing what it takes to get it. (shrink)

En el presente artículo nos interrogamos acerca del lugar que ocupan los cuerpos en la configuración afectiva patriarcal de la acción educativa en la escena universitaria. En primer lugar, nos detenemos en las normatividades que regulan la concepción dominante de la acción educativa a través de una erótica pedagógica centrada en la cancelación del valor epistémico de los cuerpos. En segundo lugar, indagamos las continuidades y las rupturas que esa erótica asume en el marco de la virtualización forzosa de la (...) acción educativa, como consecuencia de la emergencia sanitaria producida por la pandemia de Covid-19. Por último, retomando algunos elementos de la teoría crítica del Giro Afectivo, proponemos una interpretación del marco conceptual que proporciona la Ley Nacional de Educación Sexual Integral, para postular una erótica pedagógica que restituya críticamente los cuerpos y los afectos en la escena educativa e interrogue su configuración patriarcal. (shrink)

This article explores how a nonreductionist account of Nietzsche's influence on Michel Foucault can enrich our understanding of key concepts in singular works of both philosophers. I assess this exegetical strategy by looking at the two dichotomies Apollinian/Dionysian and ars erotica/scientia sexualis in The Birth of Tragedy and volume 1 of The History of Sexuality, respectively. After exploring the relation between these two dichotomies, I link the science of sexuality to the Apollinian art instinct via the existence of Socratic (...) culture and argue against the "pleasure of analysis" as a sublated form of (Dionysian) ars erotica. These considerations lead to the notions of history in Nietzsche's and Foucault's philosophies that result in situating the polyvalent Ursprung of Greek tragedy and the descent of ars erotica and scientia sexualis in an antimetaphysical and nonteleological picture of historical development.. (shrink)

Reimagining Eroticism through Embodied Aesthetics: A Feminist Reading 1. The Epistemological and Ethical Aspects of the Arts of Love In the debate of contemporary thought and its intersections with philosophy, aesthetics, and the politics of the self, Richard Shusterman’s Ars Erotica (AE) makes a significant and inspiring contribution. The book delves into the intricate relationship between aesthetics and eroticism, offering a unique perspective on the relation between the ancient notion of d...

Preview: In various guises and cultures, the theme of elevating, ennobling love is a recurrent topos in the premodern erotic theory my book traces. Freed from Plato’s problematic dualistic denigration of the body as prison of the soul and from the modern aesthetic prejudice of disinterestedness, Ars Erotica recaptures the valuable core of ennobling desire by showing how a new somaesthetic approach to sex could channel the power of eros to cultivate qualities of courtesy, grace, skill, self-mastery, and sensitivity (...) to the feelings of others, thus evoking a richer, more positive vision of sex education than we have today. (shrink)

The present study examined whether emotional text content influences cognitive engagement and transportation during listening (Experiment 1) and reading (Experiment 2) of neutral, horror and erotic stories. In Experiment 1, fluctuation in arousal and cognitive engagement were measured by continuous arousal judgments and head movement recordings during story listening. Participants rated experienced transportation and emotional valence after each story. The results showed that emotional texts were more arousing and induced more transportation than neutral stories. There was less head motion overall (...) and a steeper decrease in head motion across time for erotic than neutral or horror stories. In Experiment 2, participants’ head movements and reading times were recorded during reading, and participants rated experienced transportation, arousal, and valence after each text. The results showed that emotional texts were more arousing and induced higher transportation than neutral stories. There was less head motion during reading of erotic than neutral or horror texts. Horror texts were read slower and recalled better than neutral or erotic texts. The present results show that emotional text content impacts cognitive engagement during listening and reading of literary texts and demonstrates the importance of methodological triangulation when examining cognitive engagement. (shrink)

Se trata de una reseña del libro de Barra Ruatta, Abelardo, Ética Erótica. Política, tecnología y gestión de los placeres, Buenos Aires, Editorial Prometeo, 140 páginas. ARK: ark:/s18537960/td05t7sf1.

Preview: /Commentary: Richard Shusterman, Ars Erotica: Sex and Somaesthetics in the Classical Arts of Love, 436 pages./ Richard Shusterman’s Ars Erotica: Sex and Somaesthetics in the Classical Arts of Love is a masterpiece in a number of respects. With its focus on erotic love and the aesthetics of lovemaking, the book is to be admired for having the audacity to broach a topic that tends to be neglected – if not repressed – in contemporary academic scholarship. But Ars (...) Erotica is far from being “simply” about sex and different arts of love. In exploring classical erotic theories and ideals in Western, Chinese, Indian, Islamic and Japanese cultures, it reveals an impressive amount of knowledge and erudition when analyzing, documenting, and contextualizing the various ars erotica in their different social, cultural, political, philosophical, and religious milieus. Moreover, although Shusterman’s guiding thread is the aesthetic dimension of classic ars erotica, the book also has an important ethical and spiritual dimension, as it compellingly demonstrates how the cultivation of physical beauty and sensual pleasures was – at least in classical ancient traditions – indissociable from a wider concern with the cultivation of one’s character and virtue, that is, with an art of living in which sexual practices and attitudes were strongly embedded and from which they ultimately derived their deep symbolic meaning and relevance. (shrink)

En este artículo analizo aportaciones de Michel Foucault y Antoni Domènech, relacionadas ambas con una filosofía política del cuerpo. Para ello estudio sus acercamientos respectivos a la ética clásica, ya sea como una estética de la existencia o como una razón erótica que se opone a una razón inerte. Posteriormente, y tras confirmar sus concomitancias, propongo completarlos con una lectura de El banquete de Platón. Finalmente ejemplifico cómo podría funcionar este programa analizando la conformidad y la resistencia contra la imposición (...) de una ortodoxia corporal. (shrink)

El objetivo del presente ensayo es reflexionar sobre el modo como la investigación en filosofía –especialmente la investigación formativa que se lleva a cabo en un doctorado– es, por un lado, una experiencia erótica, pues el filósofo es siempre un principiante que está jalonado por el ansia de infinitud y, a la vez, por el hecho de no poder avanzar sino de parcialidad en parcialidad; y, por otro, una experiencia de la amistad, pues el trabajo de pensar jamás se hace (...) en solitario, sino que implica la compañía, el amparo de un interlocutor que amorosamente recrea con sus palabras una constelación de sentido que nos revela que no sabemos. Veremos entonces que lo que está en juego aquí es la invitación a considerar que la realización de la investigación de una tesis doctoral en filosofía es auténtica experiencia de amor, encuentro y compañía. (shrink)

Pretendemos, com este trabalho, apresentar a prática de uma pedagogia erótica, sob a forma de uma questionável libertinagem, observada mediante um cotejo entre os romances Satíricon, de Petrônio (I séc. d.C) e Dáfnis e Cloé, de Longo ( II-III séc. d.C). Dentro dessa perspectiva, tentaremos enfatizar as inquietações que os indivíduos da sociedade greco-romana, representados em ambos os romances, sofriam frente às normas de conduta sexual que permeavam a sociedade da época. Do mesmo modo, refletiremos acerca de questões como: escravidão, (...) racismo,homoerotismo, virgindade e fidelidade conjugal. Questões, ainda hoje, tabu em nossa sociedade. (shrink)