Showing papers on "Lust published in 2017"

Frozen in Time: How Disney Gender-Stereotypes Its Most Powerful Princess

Abstract: Disney’s animated feature Frozen (2013) received acclaim for presenting a powerful heroine, Elsa, who is independent of men. Elsa’s avoidance of male suitors, however, could be a result of her protective father’s admonition not to “let them in” in order for her to be a “good girl.” In addition, Elsa’s power threatens emasculation of any potential suitor suggesting that power and romance are mutually exclusive. While some might consider a princess’s focus on power to be refreshing, it is significant that the audience does not see a woman attaining a balance between exercising authority and a relationship. Instead, power is a substitute for romance. Furthermore, despite Elsa’s seemingly triumphant liberation celebrated in Let It Go, selfless love rather than independence is the key to others’ approval of her as queen. Regardless of the need for novel female characters, Elsa is just a variation on the archetypal power-hungry female villain whose lust for power replaces lust for any person, and who threatens the patriarchal status quo. The only twist is that she finds redemption through gender-stereotypical compassion.

Aberrant Relationships in the Book of Genesis: The Pollution of the "One Flesh" Relationship as Found in Genesis 2:24

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Lust for violence: Appetitive aggression as a fundamental part of human nature

Abstract: Abstract Appetitive aggression describes a biologically-driven form of aggressive behaviour and violence characterized by positive affect. In contrast to reactive aggression, which has the function of resisting a threat, and reducing concomitant negative emotional arousal and anger, appetitive aggression underlies the pleasure of violence. A prototypical example is hunting, which can in turn transfer to the hunting of humans and can even result in bloodlust, and killing for its own sake. At the physiological level, this morally illicit pleasure is accompanied by an adrenalin surge, the release of cortisol and endorphins. In order to activate reward systems via appetitive aggression, their moral and cultural restraints need to be overridden. For example, armed groups work to dehumanize the enemy. Once initiated, a positive feedback loop is generated: As the individual commits more acts of violence with elements of positive affect, the tendency to commit them grows, and they begin to be perceived more positively. A latent passion for fighting and dominance can probably be evoked in almost all men and in some women. The cumulative outcome of whole groups, tribes, or communities enacting this aggression is war and destruction, to the point of trying to extinguish entire ethnic groups:“… and yes, human beings, hundreds of thousands of otherwise normal people, not professional killers, did it.” (from “The Killers in Rwanda Speak” by Jean Hatzfeld, 2005). Thus, appetitive aggression, the disposition towards a lust for violence, is by no means a psychopathological anomaly but an intrinsic part of the human behavioural repertoire. Morality, culture and the state monopoly on violence constitute the guards that regulate aggression potential and to channel it into socially useful forms.

Love & lust : on the psychoanalysis of romantic and sexual emotions

Abstract: These selections from Theodor Reik's work concern the love life and sexual activity of men and women. Reik establishes the theme of this work in the following way: "The sex urge hunts for lustful pleasure; love is in search of joy and happiness." Over a third of this volume had never been published in book form before it originally appeared half a century ago. Its appearance in paperback, for the first time, is a welcome addition to current debates, liberated from ideological and political constraints.The first part of the book is so far ahead of its time that it is still current. It reveals Reik's departure from Freud's theories and from those of most of his contemporaries in psychology and psychoanalysis. Part Two is a greatly abbreviated version of Masochism in Modern Man, retaining those parts with a direct bearing on the subject of this volume. Part Three offers two essays on why people remain single. In the author's usual direct style, they deal with the marriage shyness of the male and the psychological fears and resistance of both men and women to acceptance of the marriage bond. Part Four is Reik at his wisest. "The first lady whom I asked to read the manuscript said smilingly: 'Many of your impressions about us (women) are correct. No man should read the book!' A few seconds later, she said: 'Or rather, every man should read the book!'"As Paul Roazen noted, "in contrast to some of Freud's other followers, Reik was prescient early on in distinguishing self-love from narcissism. Reik believed that genuine self-regard was the ultimate basis for developing the capacity to love."At times Reik seems to defend women, at times to critique them. Yet he writes with sympathy and understanding. He challenges other authorities who have written on the subject, but he also agrees with many of them. Love and Lust is civilized writing at its most provocative. Reik is authoritative, and his book reflects the glow of a rich personali

The Banished Scholar: Beverland, Sex, and Liberty in the Seventeenth-Century Low Countries

Abstract: Scholar Hadriaan Beverland was banished from Holland in 1679. Why was this humanist exiled from one of the most tolerant parts of Europe in the seventeenth century? This article argues that it was Beverland’s singular focus on sexual lust that got him into such great trouble. In his studies, he highlighted the importance of sex in human nature, history, and his own society. Dutch theologians disliked his theology, exegesis, and his use of erudition to mock their authority. His humanist colleagues did not support him either, since Beverland threatened the basis of the humanist enterprise by drawing attention to the sexual side of the classical world. And Dutch magistrates were happy to convict the young scholar, because he had insolently accused them of hypocrisy. By restricting sex to marriage, in compliance with Reformed doctrine, secular authorities upheld a sexual morality that was unattainable, Beverland argued, and he proposed honest discussion of the problem of sex. This article shows that by exposing the gap between principle and practice, Beverland highlighted the hypocrisy of a deeply conflicted elite at a precarious time, since the Dutch Golden Age had started disintegrating by the late-seventeenth century. Positioning Beverland’s fate in this context of change, his story and scholarship provide a fresh perspective on the intellectual environment of the Low Countries in this period.

Lust, Desire, Hope. Dante and the Problem of Love (Inf. V; Purg. XVII–XVIII; Purg. XXVI)

Abstract: Abstract The article reconstructs the ‘strategy’ used by Dante in the Commedia for solving the problem of love: moving from lust (Inf. V), to the possibility of controlling natural desire through free choice (Purg. XVII-XVIII), to the role of hope in the pursuit of divine love, abandoning cupiditas and embracing caritas (Purg. XXVI). This trajectory is identified through lexical, rhyme-related, and thematic connections. It begins and ends with the first and the last sinners Dante encounters during his journey: Francesca and Arnaut Daniel - both condemned for their lust. The article also explores the reflections of Dante on the previous romance literature dealing with love, providing in particular a more convincing explanation of the presence of Arnaut Daniel - whose courtly love poetry was grounded on the theme of hope - at the end of Purgatory, the supernatural realm of Hope. Moreover, the investigation is set in the context of Dante’s philosophical and theological background - confirming with new elements the coexistence of his Augustinian imagery with the Thomist moral structure of the Commedia.

For lust or gain: perceptions of prostitutes in eighteenth-century London

Abstract: This paper examines perceptions of lower-class female prostitutes in eighteenth-century London. This study challenges the prevailing argument that these perceptions fundamentally changed from ‘lusty whores’ to victims of poverty. An examination of Bridewell records, sermons, pamphlets, and the newspaper press, reveals that commentators believed that lust, poverty, and greed collectively explained what drove women to prostitution. Commentators recognized that, unable to make ends meet, many women turned to prostitution to survive, while also suggesting that others turned to prostitution because they believed they could gain considerable wealth by doing so. These same commentators asserted that some women were unusually lustful and that only prostitution would satisfy their insatiable desires. The simultaneous depiction of prostitutes in contradictory ways suggests that prostitution was not offensive to Georgian Britons solely because it involved women exchanging sexual favours for money, but becaus...

Lust as Prerequisite: Eroticism in The Story of the Stone

Abstract: In chapter 1 of The Story of the Stone , the internal narrator notably censures erotic fiction and draws a line between his own narrative and the filthy obscenities. Yet the novel does the exact opposite. In the Stone , eroticism is not only part of a physiological act, but it is also highlighted as a narrative act, in which a network of textual and intertextual references is made to emphasize the significance of physical desire. Focusing on this network, this article examines the importance of eroticism in the making of the novel and explores how the Stone reinterprets and positions itself in the genealogy of lust.

Symbolism of the Goat and Its Presence in Picasso’s Work

Abstract: To ancient men, goats, and all that was related to them, were associated with a burning sexuality, even with lasciviousness and lust, and connected with the deities Venus and Bacchus. In this case, this connection occurs through mythological creatures, like fauns and satyrs, all of them representations of an unbridled sexuality. On the other hand, goats were also considered as whimsical and unstable animals, whose behavior was very changeable, and in some contexts, as a symbol of Christ. This paper will show how many of these symbols are repeated in the representations of this animal in Picasso’s works.

2016 NAPS Presidential Address New Romans: Salvian of Marseilles On the Governance of God

Abstract: [...]Salvian offers a sustained criticism of contemporary Roman society as a whole.45 Even though individual Romans may live the life of a sanctus, a true Christian, society as a whole has been woefully inadequate in obeying the commandments of the Law (GD 3.29).46 Romans read the gospel and then proceeded to turn their houses into brothels, nearly kill their neighbors through excessive taxation, defraud fellow Romans of their land, rob them of their freedom, gorge themselves on lavish meals while others starve, and lust for the theater and the games while the corpses of their fellow Romans pile up six deep along the walls of their smoldering cities, savaged by wild dogs.47 In sum, they had no excuse: they knew what they should do; they were fully cognizant of the divine commandments; they saw divine correction in action, but ignored and trampled it underfoot in an act of willful rebellion (GD 5.12).48 As a consequence, second, Romans lost (or had almost lost) the privileges that being Roman entailed. [...]God chose the present punishments accordingly and granted victory to the barbarians: "Are we surprised that the barbarians capture us, when we make captives of our own brothers?"49 Salvian's continuing conviction that in effect Romans are superior to barbarians, just as Roman ideology demands, is implicit in his interpretation of the significance of the barbarian victories.50 This is the very premise of his point. Once upon a time Romans were just, virtuous and victorious, and hence they have been granted the privilege of the divine law as a means to better themselves even further, but instead they had rebelled.51 Consequently, their utter failure to fulfill their obligations robbed them of their very Romanitas. Because Romans, that is, Catholic Christians, lost the privileges of their Roman-ness, barbarian peoples are now not only militarily superior, but, even more importantly, morally superior as well.52 That is the meaning of the present crisis, as God's chosen punishment makes crystal clear-those who can now claim the privileges and obligations of the Romans are the barbarians, who are, or have the chance to become, according to Salvian, the new Romans. [...]Carthage's extraordinary wealth also caused its male inhabitants to dress as women and to engage in homosexual acts.88 By the same token, for Christian authors effeminate men-in an adaptation of classic tropes that equated homosexuality with barbarian mores-were prone to idol worship and other forms of paganism and Salvian complies here, too.89 "Among the most powerful and the most noble," nota bene amongst the Christian most powerful and noble, reigns idol worship.90 Both in secret and quite openly, they continue to venerate the goddess Caelestis (or Tanit), "that demon of the Africans, to whom I believe the pagans of old gave such a striking name .

Aesthetics of the Naked Human Body: From Pornography (Sexualised Lust Object) to Iconography (Aesthetics of Human Nobility and Wisdom) in an Anthropology of Physical Beauty

Abstract: In many religious circles and philosophies of life, the human body is excluded from the realm of spirituality and meaning. Due to a dualistic approach, nudity is viewed as merely a physical and corporeal category. In social media, there is the real danger that the naked human body is exploited for commercial gain. Advertisements often leave the impression that the body, very specifically the genitals, is designed merely for physical desire and corporeal chemistry. They become easily objects for lust, excluded from the beauty of graceful existence and noble courage. It is argued that the naked human body is not designed for pornographic exploitation and promiscuous sensuality but for compassionate intimacy and nurturing care in order to instil a humane dimension in human and sexual encounters. In this regard, antiquity and the Michelangelesque perspective can contribute to a paradigm shift from abusive exploitation to the beauty of vulnerable sensitivity. In order to foster an integrative approach to theory formation in anthropology, the methodology of stereometric thinking is proposed.

Falling in Lust: Sexiness, Feminism, and Pornography

Abstract: Caffeine makes you sexy! This absurd slogan can be seen in the shop windows of a popular Brussels coffee chain – its bold pink lettering indicating how they are mainly targeting female customers It is one of the silliest examples of something that is both very common and very worrisome nowadays, namely, the constant call on women to look ‘hot’ and conform to the standards of sexiness as they are projected in the media, entertainment industry, and advertising But what exactly is wrong with this state of affairs and what can be done about it? In a recent essay Sheila Lintott and Sherri Irvin take up this issue and make an elaborate case for what they call a ‘feminist reclamation’ of sexiness This chapter investigates the merits and shortcomings of their proposal, presents an alternative account, and considers how pornography may be part of the problem but also part of the solution in this matter

Para uma nova epistéme do luso-tropicalismo: análise comparativa da luxúria clerical no Atlântico Português (1640-1750)

Abstract: Despite the considerable labor of the Portuguese and Brazilian historiographies concerning the ecclesiastic and religious history in the early modern period, the lustful behaviors of society, and particularly those of the clergy, have not always been studied in depth through historical sources and using the comparative method. Perhaps that is why a latency of old conceptual models, of a sociological and anthropological nature, in the historiographical field of history have persisted upt the present, which tend to see certain specificities in the Brazilian colony without testing them in a contrastive way. One of them, perhaps the largest one, is Luso-tropicalism , in light of which the following ideas were forged: the climate of hot lands, like those of Brazil, instigated lust; this immorality, which occurred among the various ethnic groups that populated the colony, was tolerated and/or managed as a colonial policy of population increase, a distinctive feature of Portuguese colonization. Since these arguments assume that in the colony the ecclesiastical judicial mechanisms of vigilance and discipline did not exist, were inoperative or complacent, a review will be made in the light of original judicial sources and a comparative approach on clerical lust present in the Portuguese Atlantic. Keywords: Environmental determinism, Luso-tropicalism, clerical lust, Inquisition, diocesan courts, comparative method.

Time, History, and Nation in Ang Lee's Lust, Caution

Abstract: In 2012, Taiwanese director Ang Lee once again became the subject of mainstream media attention and popular acclaim in the wake of his awardwinning fi lm Life of Pi. Strangely, both international and domestic audiences tended to forget the controversy generated by his previous fi lm, Lust, Caution.1 The contrast between Lust, Caution (2007) and his effort Life of Pi (henceforth referred as Pi), is as great as the contrast between his fi lms Hulk and Brokeback Mountain, although arguably more subtle. Lust, Caution and Pi seem incommensurable in terms of subject and genre: while Pi is widely recognized as an a-political adventure drama, Lust, Caution is often categorized as an espionage fi lm, with a historic-political setting in the second SinoJapanese War. Furthermore, Pi is lauded by critics and beloved by audiences across the globe for its visual effects and philosophical depth. In contrast, Lust, Caution appeals primarily to an audience of smaller geographic scale, consisting of the so-called “pan-Chinese Communities” (Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong) and is underrated by Western audiences.2 Besides, while the reviews and feedback on Pi are consistently positive, the reactions to Lust, Caution are extremely polarized, even among domestic audiences in Mainland China.3 The trajectory from Lust, Caution to Pi in one sense fi ts with the consensus reached by critics and reviewers that Ang Lee’s style should be described

Violence and Xenophobia in South Africa: Shakespeare, Thomas Mofolo's Chaka, and Welcome Msomi's uMabatha: The Zulu Macbeth

Abstract: IntroductionTo be thus is nothing/But to be safely thus.(Shakespeare, Macbeth, 3.1.50-1)The bones of the innocent speak to me, they say that the vicious dog must die. (Msomi 186)Scholars have sought the origin of violence in several historical events including the story of Cain and Abel in the Holy Bible, the foundational myths of the so-called pagan deities that were propitiated with both human and animal sacrifices, the Passion of Christ that Christians globally consider the ultimate redemptive act upon which Christian faith and its belief is predicated, the World Wars, religious extremism and ethnic cleansing, mid-twentieth century persecution of the Jews, and to the often overlooked corporal punishment that was deemed necessary for character formation (Carroll 1-2), as well as the heinous trans-Atlantic Slave trade. Through graphic pictures of violent occurrences in the Middle Ages, similar to those in contemporary society, and their portrayal in literary and dramatic texts as well as in related medium, Eve Salisbury et al draw attention to the "heightened public awareness about the precarious nature of human society" and the global "collective expectation of moments of apocalyptic demise" (1). They insist that their book shifts critical attention though not exclusively from "manifest public violence" to engaging the "dynamics of domestic and household violence". Yet, their definition of "domestic violence" as those behaviour or actions that are social, psychological, economic, spiritual, physical, verbal, sexual-all of which are intended to injure another person in some way (2-3), speaks directly to the heart of the issue that this essay addresses, even as I aim to examine the violence that is both outright debilitating and public, and the place of William Shakespeare in the subject, most especially Macbeth of our concern.R.A. Foakes laments the troubling problem that violence constitutes to the world by drawing attention to the way Shakespeare dramatizes violence. He cites the US response to the attack on the World Trade Centre on 11 September, 2001, in order to underline the impracticable reality of extirpating violence through violence. Although he acknowledges the difference in Shakespeare's and today's world, Foakes contends that of all other writers in history, Shakespeare's plays offer us the best examples of literary representation of violence and its social discontent. He insists that a study of the trajectory of Shakespeare's plays often follows such a discernable pattern which reveals a delight in the representation of violence for entertainment, to the exploration of the various problems of violence that culminates with a detailed study of human aggression in relation to restraint (2); and of the plays in the Shakespeare canon, Macbeth readily fits into such a description.Shakespeare's shortest but one of his most gruesome tragedies, Macbeth is widely thought to have been first performed at the Globe in London in 1611, even though some argued that a performance of the play was earlier given in court in honour of James I, the new Scottish-born King of England on 7th August 1605. Meanwhile, critics have also identified a contrast in Elizabethan and Jacobean theatres, a contrast that was also reflected in Shakespeare's own plays since he wrote in both periods. In Dunton-Downer and Riding's opinion, while "Elizabethan theatre was in the main optimistic, the Jacobean theatre was often more sombre, moralizing and introspective." Moreover, a darker undertone that characterised works of his contemporaries was also reflected in Shakespeare's early Jacobean tragedies that dwell on "violence, evil, lust and madness overwhelming love, beauty and hope" (30), which are features of Macbeth, the story of Macbeth, a distinguished soldier but also a heroic and ambitious man who, acting on the prophecy of three Witches and urged on by his wife, murders his king, usurps his throne and unleashes a vicious reign of violence and terror upon his kingdom. …

Syphilis, Puritanism and Witch Hunts: Historical Explanations in the Light of Medicine and Psychoanalysis with a Forecast about Aids

Abstract: Part 1 The thesis: syphilis, puritanism and capitalism syphilis, celibacy and witch hunts. Part 2 The demonologists fascination with lust and disease illustrated from the sources Montague Summers' compilations Henri Boguet Nicholas Remy Franscesco Guazzo Pierre de Lancre George Sinclair Lodovico Sinistrari the impact of Aids on social life, possibilities and likelihoods wickedness, madness and error - on the limits of usefulness of psychoanalysis in historical explanations.

Book Review: Lina Khatib and Ellen Lust (eds), Taking to the Streets: The Transformation of Arab ActivismTaking to the Streets: The Transformation of Arab Activism by KhatibLinaLustEllen (eds). Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014. 349pp., £19.50 (p/b), ISBN 9781421413129

Abstract: essay, which features a very brief exploration of an alternative Greenlandic epistemology (p. 119), could perhaps provide an opening for another approach. Given that the evidence regarding climate change and its connection to the production and use of hydrocarbons becomes ever clearer, more committed Green voices would also have been welcomed. Overall, though, this Handbook is a significant success and should be a necessary addition to any library.

Lust in Language: The Reading, Writing and Translating of Erotic Literature

Abstract: Sexuality and language are two fundamental characteristics of human culture, and the relationship between both shows the role language has in expressing such inexpressible feelings as lust, desire and passion. Humans have long been preoccupied with the mysteries of sex, and language has been the vehicle through which to express such curiosities. Erotic literature has become a genre with such distinct characteristics that translating such texts requires a methodology and approach different from traditional translation tactics. By discussing aspects of both French and English language which influence erotic writing as well as applying existing theories of translation to a translator’s approach, this thesis aims to ultimately show how the role of the reader as a consumer and the translator as a creative agent influences both the translation and reception of an erotic text. I draw comparisons between Anais Nin’s erotic short stories, entitled Delta of Venus, and Emma Becker’s erotic novel, Mr., and analyze their subsequent translations to illustrate the absolute importance of interpretation and sensation over linguistic loyalty when approaching an erotic translation.

Beautiful Suffering and the Culpable Narrator in Chaucer's Legend of Good Women

Abstract: The narrator of the Legend of Good Women is caught in a conundrum. Accused of wronging ladies with his poetry, he is assigned a penitential task: the praise of good, faithful women. Fulfilling this, however, means hurting women more. In describing their beautiful suffering, he becomes complicit in the aestheticization of female pain and makes women into objects of violent lust. Even in praising them he lies, thus resembling the silver-tongued men who deceive their wives and lovers. The narrator’s solution is to present himself as an unskilled poet, a mere copier and translator who cannot be held responsible for the beauty and lies of his verse. He makes this show of ineptitude so as to conceal his participation in a long tradition of idealizing women who suffer and die.

Priming Sexual and Romantic Representations in Two Media Environments: Sex Encourages and Romance Discourages Sexual Permissiveness … Sometimes.

Abstract: Two experiments (Ns = 314, 447) were used to evaluate the effectiveness of sexual cues in temporarily increasing young adults' self-reported sexual permissiveness, as well as the effects of romantic cues in temporarily decreasing permissiveness. Participants were exposed to sexual or romantic cues embedded as a theme-defining component of an online game (Study 1) or in advertisements peripheral to the online game (Study 2). Sexual and romantic conditions were compared against a control condition. As hypothesized, participants in the romantic conditions rated themselves lower in sexual permissiveness, compared to participants in the sexual and control conditions, particularly when participants positively evaluated the online game experience. Findings suggest that exposure to entertaining media depictions of two people, as a committed couple, expressing love, as well as lust, for each other might deter young adults from considering engagement in casual sexual encounters indicative of "hookup culture."

Analisis Elemen-Elemen Nafsu Dalam Teori Psikoanalisis Sigmund Freud Dan Kitab Penawar Bagi Hati Al-Mandili

Abstract: Sigmund Freud in his psychoanalysis theory states that human is a sexual creature (Ann et al, 2013; Neil et al, 2010; Corey, 2009; Abdul Syakur, 2007; Maghfur, 2011) who craves merely for fun and to minimize pain because lust is basic of mankind (Gregory & Erika, 2012; Azlina, 2005; Freud, 1965). Freud’s psychoanalysis theory is the best reference (Maghfur, 2011; Kamarulzaman, 2009; Yatimah & Mohd Tajudin, 2008; Abdul Syakur, 2007; Mahmood Nazar, 1990) and copied blindly among Muslim psychologists (Malik, 1979). Though, there are some elements in psychoanalysis theory have raised confusions among them (Yatimah & Mohd Tajudin, 2008). Some Muslim psychologists have superficial knowledge about content of Kitab Penawar Bagi Hati (KPBH) by al-Mandili make them exclude lust elements in KPBH which equivalent to Freud’s psychoanalysis theory. Thus, a library research is conducted in form of analisis kandungan to study the lust elements from both Freud’s psychoanalysis theory and KPBH by al-Mandili which are similar and practically applicable for Muslim psychologists. This research limits to lust elements only from both Freud’s psychoanalysis theory and KPBH by al-Mandili. The research involves data validation by interviewing the experts, member checking and data cross checking. The finding states that there are some lust elements from Freud that equivalent to KPBH by al-Mandili which are id and libido from unconcious mind and sexual desire from qalb that offers potential of fun and joy. Therefore, there is high expectation that this research could clarify the confusions on Freud’s psychoanalysis theory that have been practiced among Muslim psychologists then to convey the works of Nusantara scholars to society in Malaysia as well. Key words: Freud’s psychoanalysis, KPBH by al-Mandili, Id, Sexual Desire

Travels Through The Dark Realms Of Medieval Clerical Fantasies: Sex And Erotica In The Infernal Testimony

Abstract: Medieval testimonies brought back by Christian voyagers into Hell delve into the infernal punishments administered to the souls of the sinners. In this literature, written by monks for monks, the emphasis on sexual deviations is indicative of a constant battle to repress desire, as well as of a need to destroy the object of this desire. The punitive treatment administered to those who violate the rules and allow themselves to be corrupted by lust, elicits a variety of fantasies where torture, cruelty, and lechery are fused together in unbridled poetry. In pursuance of this worship of chastity, bodies, which should be separated and chaste on Earth, are instead mixed together naked and are desecrated in Hell. In condemning eroticism and desire, the monks result in describing a sexuality that is considerably more seditious. This paper analyzes the extent to which this literature allows the study of the attitude monks adopted towards sexual practices.

Addicted to Novelty: The Vice of Curiosity in a Digital Age

Abstract: Although the new ethical challenges posed by biotechnology and digital surveillance have been the focus of close attention and heated debate among Christian ethicists, comparatively little attention has been dedicated to far more ubiquitous technologies: the internet and our smartphones. Yet evidence is mounting among cognitive scientists, sociologists, and psychologists that the internet and related media technology are profoundly reshaping human thought, behavior, and sociality (in some ways helpfully, in some ways harmfully). This is surely a matter for ethical concern if there ever was one. This essay argues that the medieval concept of the vice of curiositas is an apt diagnosis of the ways in which digital media can absorb and scatter our attention, often in pathological ways. I first offer a summary of what earlier Christian authors meant by curiosity, and I classify their concerns into a typology of seven forms of vicious curiosity. I then show how the phenomenon of online pornography addiction in particular and other forms of internet addiction more generally confirm the explanatory power of this older concept and especially Augustine's distinction of the "lust of the flesh" and "the lust of the eyes." I conclude by suggesting how the grammar of "vice" and "virtue" allows us to embrace the value of new technologies while consciously cultivating strategies of resistance to their harmful tendencies.

On a world without war

Abstract: Wars are inevitable as long as men and their societies are moved by avarice, greed and lust for power, the permanent drives of sinful men. It is, therefore, self-delusion and folly to expect a time will ever come in this world when wars will cease.

How love and lust influence self-control

Abstract: We investigated how love versus lust influences an individual’s self-control behavior. We anticipated that individuals primed with love would show a higher degree of self-control than those primed with lust. In Experiment 1 ( N = 236 participants), we examined how a hypothetical choice between a healthy and an unhealthy food was influenced by priming with love or lust, and found that participants were more likely to prefer a healthy option when primed with love than when primed with lust. In Experiment 2 ( N = 94 participants), we examined our hypothesis with the actual consumption of an unhealthy food, and found that people consumed more of an unhealthy food when primed with lust. Our findings not only contribute to the understanding of love and lust but also broaden the horizons of research on variables that influence self-control.

Ruin Lust and Totalitarian Remnants

Abstract: This article posits Nabokov’s Invitation to a Beheading as an allegorical novel that resists classical markers of allegory. Its narrative action unfolds without a history, setting, or temporality, ...

Discipline and Redemption: The Dance of Penitence in Dante’s Purgatorio

Abstract: In the context of Christian penitence, medieval preachers, confessors, and philosophers aligned dancing with lust, pride, and sacrilege. These negative attitudes toward dance colored medieval depictions of Purgatory and damnation. However, Dante’s Purgatorio offers a very different representation of purgatorial bodies. This article shows how dance in the Purgatorio is not associated with punishment, but rather moral discipline, self-transformation, and spiritual redemption. In conclusion, I address some of the deeper implications that Dantesque dancing may have on critical theory and performance today.

The Villainous Moor: Eleazar in Dekker’s Lust’s Dominion (1600)

Abstract: The article explores the disruptive social contexts and inter-racial relationships in Thomas Dekker’s Lust’s Dominion (c.1599–1600) [Collier found out about its original performance date, which was in February 1600, and that it was first published in 1657 (Collier 1827, p. 264)] with focus on the Moorish Eleazar. The play is about race, lust, revenge and politics. The Elizabethan experienced a cultural blend and a fear of Africans and other foreigners. Like Dekker, Elizabethan dramatists imparted well-known contemporary prejudices and stereotypes on those of specific origin in Africa based solely on their dark skin. Elizabethan shows reinforced the image of the Moor as cruel, tyrannical and deceitful. The African Moors are portrayed to the Elizabethan expectations as being demi-devil, deceitful, lascivious, unpleasant, merciless egotist as soon as he appears. The depiction of the evil Moor contributes to Elizabethan superiority as an intrinsic right. Dekker illustrates the pervasive racism of Elizabethan Europe and the plain consequences of this institutionalized prejudice.