Last Updated on September 16, 2022
Did you know that Immanuel Kant was one of the first psychologists to trace masturbation to anxiety neurosis? He traces this practice to obsession, hysterical vomiting, repressed memories of infantile sexuality, and guilt itself. Masturbation is no longer seen as an aberration. In fact, the modern psychologist traces it to a number of different psychological problems, including anxiety neurosis, narcissism, and obsession.
Laqueur
In his book, Laqueur explores the paradoxes of modern commercial society, and he also examines the evolution of the idea of masturbation. Yet, he is unable to explain the way masturbation has become a symbol of modernity. Unlike other concepts, such as the rise of capitalism and the loss of common rights, Laqueur does not explain how masturbation came to be an evil.
While Laqueur’s thesis is simple, the argument of the book is rooted in the current orientation of cultural studies. Laqueur argues that masturbation represents the first democratic sexuality and dates its emergence in the late eighteenth century, to the founding text of the Enlightenment, Onania. In the process of establishing this thesis, the ‘filthy commerce with oneself’ concept was born.
In Solitary Sex, Laqueur uses the history of literature to analyze the rise and fall of the concept of masturbation in the western world. He begins with a survey of ascetically inclined Judaism, then proceeds to an extended discussion of Christian attitudes toward masturbation. He focuses on the eighteenth century, highlighting iconic texts. His account of the history of masturbation is an entertaining and thought-provoking read.
Kant
When did Kant discover masturbation, and how did it affect his philosophy of morals? Masturbation is a form of sex that both men and women use to gratify their desires. The object of desire is not the human nature of the other person, but rather the sex-related parts of the person’s body. Consequently, this type of sexual activity dishonors human nature. Men and women treat their humanity as a means of lust, equal to the animal nature.
This unnatural use of the sexual attribute of man is a blatant violation of duty to oneself. It demonstrates that man has surrendered his personality to an unnatural impulse. This violation of human nature seems to exceed murdering oneself. And while we can’t be certain that the unnatural use of sexuality is harmful to human health, it is clearly an act of self-destruction.
Before the early 1700s, few people paid much attention to masturbation. Greek mythology mentions masturbation, but no one took note of it. In antiquity, it was a matter of simple satisfaction, which is why satyrs masturbate. And that is why solitary sex is morally problematic. And yet, despite the ethical implications, many people still engage in the practice.
Kant’s treatise on solitary sex
Immanuel Kant’s treatise on’solitary sex’ is a rebuke of unnatural vices, such as bestiality and self-abuse. According to Kant, sexual activity is degrading and is against God’s plan. Therefore, it is morally wrong to engage in masturbation or fornication. However, despite the criticisms, Kant did not condemn marriage and did not consider it a sign of spiritual maturity.
While conservative Kantians reject the idea of mutual consent as a sufficient moral standard, liberal Kantians hold that consent is strong enough to make sexual acts legal without marriage. This satisfies the second formulation of Kant’s categorical imperative, which demands reciprocal acknowledgment of rational autonomy. Consent is not sufficient in some cases, however, as third parties may be harmed and legitimate interests can be ignored.
Hence, the unnatural use of sexual attributes is a violation of one’s duty to oneself. This act shows that man has surrendered his personality in order to satisfy his animal impulse. This is a very high degree of violation of humanity, and seems to surpass murder. In fact, many people who commit unnatural acts are guilty of this crime. In other words,’solitary sex’ is a grave violation of a person’s duty to himself.
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant discovered masturibation in his work on ethics and the morality of human sexuality. In his work on morality, Kant argues that sexual activity is an abuse of human sexual faculty, which degrades man to an animal level and goes against the ends of humanity. While the sexual liberal finds nothing morally wrong with masturbation, he does find that it is unnatural and is not the way to live.
Moreover, Kant’s view can accommodate the desires of kind people. An X might desire Y’s body just because she is kind to X. While sexual desire is a selfish act, it can also be multifaceted, layered with many other human emotions. By embracing the complexity of human emotions, a Kantian view of sex does not impose a single-dimensional view of sexual desire. It can accommodate the needs and wishes of other people as well.
The metaphysics of sex has long influenced our views of sexuality. For example, the Marquis de Sade and Sigmund Freud both defended sexuality, and argued that the act of masturbation is morally neutral. But there are many people who disagree with these philosophers. The metaphysics of sexuality influences our judgments about the morality of sexual acts.
Tissot
Doctor Samuel Auguste Tissot, a Catholic neurologist and advisor to the Vatican, published L’onanisme in 1758. He wrote that masturbation was dangerous and led to general debility. Later, Rousseau and Voltaire associated masturbation with various diseases. In the late nineteenth century, doctors blamed masturbation for diseases like neurasthenia and neurosis. They recommended punishments and dietary restrictions for those who engaged in masturbation.
When did masturbation become a problem? Laqueur argues that in the 18th century, as print culture, private reading, and unbounded commerce spread, it became a problem for society. The virtuous elements of the 18th century were eroded by masturbation. The condemned tendencies were the outer boundary of what society valued. As such, masturbation became the devil of bourgeois civilisation.
While the medical profession recognized the dangers of masturbation in the nineteenth century, it faced mounting pressure to explain it to society. Those physicians were products of the upper class and their affiliated institutions and carried class anxieties into their practice. It was not clear who led the antimasturbation campaign, but it was not surprising that physicians were not the vanguard of the movement. During this period, commercial and religious groups had taken advantage of scientific knowledge to justify their views of sexual behavior.
Tissot’s treatise on solitary sex
In his 1830 treatise on solitary sexes, T.S. Eliot asserted that auto-eroticism created sexual desire, which made it dangerous for both men and women. He claimed that masturbation caused more blood to be pumped to the brain, resulting in a flood of nerves and an intense feeling of shame. In addition, Tissot’s theory made physiological sense: as the blood flows to the brain, it also weakens the nerves and makes them less resistant to impressions.
The importance of masturbation cannot be overemphasized. It is the simplest and least harmful sexual act. While ancient civilizations had no concern for masturbation, it was an important issue in modern medical thought, and Tissot’s treatise on solitary sex helped to bring it into the mainstream. But it’s still worth remembering that Tissot and Laqueur were in opposition to each other.
Although venery is more harmful than coition, he does admit that both sexual activities may lead to negative consequences. For example, masturbation and coition are both mental processes that require the onanist to think about an object. These mental processes prolong the feeling, thereby retarding denouement. In a similar vein, he argues that the mental labor of masturbation causes more pronounced symptoms.
Immanuel Kant’s treatise on solitary sex
The text of Immanuel Kant’s Treatise on Solitary Sex (Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason) says a few things about human sexuality, but the author has an overall anti-sex attitude. He considered onanism as a misuse of the sexual faculty, degrading man to the animal level. “Intercourse between sexus homogenii is contrary to the ends of humanity,” he wrote.
Masturbation was first considered a problem in a pamphlet published in the mid-eighteenth century. The Onania pamphlet was aimed at curing venereal ailments, and it was later picked up by a similar treatise in Bern. Essentially, Immanuel Kant condemned masturbation as an unnatural, selfish act. These polemical writings also coincided with the emergence of novels with salacious bodice-ripping content.
About The Author
Pat Rowse is a thinker. He loves delving into Twitter to find the latest scholarly debates and then analyzing them from every possible perspective. He's an introvert who really enjoys spending time alone reading about history and influential people. Pat also has a deep love of the internet and all things digital; she considers himself an amateur internet maven. When he's not buried in a book or online, he can be found hardcore analyzing anything and everything that comes his way.