Lust /

Lust /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Blackburn, Simon, 1944-
Imprint:	[New York] : New York Public Library ; Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2004.
Description:	1 online resource (xii, 151 pages) : illustrations (some color).
Language:	English
Series:	The seven deadly sins Seven deadly sins.
Subject:	Lust -- Religious aspects -- Christianity. Lust -- Religious aspects -- Christianity. Electronic book.
Format:	E-Resource Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11150281

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9780195347548 0195347544 9781429430975 1429430974 9780195162004 0195162005 9786610838257 6610838259 0195162005 1280838256 9781280838255
Digital file characteristics:	data file
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 135-141) and index. English. Print version record.
Summary:	Publisher's description: 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 colourfully packaged, Lust is a book that anyone would lust over.
Other form:	Print version: Blackburn, Simon. Lust. [New York] : New York Public Library ; Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2004 0195162005

Table of Contents:

Pleasure
Excess
Two problems from Plato
Stiff upper lips
The Christian panic
The legacy
What nature intended
Some consequences
Shakespeare versus Dorothy Parker
Hobbesian unity
Disasters
Substitutions
Evolution and desire
Overcoming pessimism
Farewell.