Quote:
Originally Posted by TimMason
I think that a tradition that identifies the objects of desire as being problematic is closer to the way psychologists look at desire today than is one which sees desire itself as a Bad Thing. Although one may feel that there is an ambient, diffuse condition of longing - for what, one knows not - there are also fairly sharply differentiated kinds of desire. The impulse that makes it difficult to pass the Fnac without rushing in and buying an iPad, or buying more DVDs than one will ever have time to watch, is different from the gay impulsion that takes me home to my wife each evening. Anticipating the pleasure that I may get from an evening in the Baron Rouge is different from the joy I anticipate when meeting an old friend whom I have not seen for some years. And, as both Blake and Sade stand witness to, there are other, less socially acceptable desires, which spring from different cognitive sub-systems.
From this point of view, the admonition to eschew desire as such is wrong-headed. One might argue that the reasonable man or woman should cultivate those impulsions and wants that can be encouraged without causing harm to oneself or to others, and ought to curb those that are harmful.
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I see the fruits of this line of thinking all the time in modern US society. It seems to be a way of avoiding responsibility for our actions. But I think (hope?) we may be growing out of it. It used to be "acceptable" to blame a woman for her own rape. But no one would seriously propose that any more. Unfortunately society "grows wiser" by decades & centuries and we live within the short time we live.
These days we like to blame intermediaries. Guns are bad. Guns kill people. Blame the weapons - not the killers. We can't control ourselves with a weapon nearby so we should not be trusted with one. Or, it was the alcohol (substitute whatever you want here) - not me!
Or the opposite - externalize & alienate the desire: "I'm not to blame, it was a '
crime of passion', I shouldn't be held responsible for that!" The desire is not a part of us. We are victims of it and it has made us victimise others. No amount of reason can oppose desire. We can never learn to control our passions - so don't try. We're the victim here, driven by uncontrollable desire.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TimMason
Blake would disagree: "the tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction." Although I am a stipended horse, I think I see what he meant.
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I think you're taking Blake out of context there. Wasn't that one of Blake's proverbs of hell? I'm not sure he was actually promoting that point of view, but it's been awhile since I've read "Marriage of Heaven and Hell."
Troy