The obsession with Eros as pointing beyond itself

pp. 201-218

in: Ralph Ellis, Eros in a narcissistic culture, Berlin, Springer, 1996

Abstract

An obvious manifestation of the problematic nature of eros for modern people which lends itself to phenomenological reflection is the way contemporary culture is increasingly "obsessed with sex.' Problems of sexuality almost always present themselves as embedded in the larger and more earthshaking problems of eros. As we have already seen in the chapter on "Sexuality and Infatuation,' sexuality originarily intends not merely the reduction of a physiological deficit, but rather that I become an object of sexual attention and admiration for the other's subjectivity. Thus the sexual urge ultimately intends that infatuation feelings develop, which in the case of beings whose consciousness is well-developed also tends to lead toward a space of empathy. And the space of empathy, when combined with sexual and infatuation feelings, will lead at times of existential need to the full feeling of eros.