Understanding Love and Responsibility by Richard A Spinello

Author:Richard A Spinello
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pauline Books and Media
Published: 2014-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Concupiscence of the flesh

Although sensuality constitutes the raw material for conjugal love, it is also associated with concupiscence of the flesh, which means that it can be the raw material for sin. Sensuality is the experience of the corporeal sexual values of another person. At this level there is a passive interest or “absorption” in sexual values that directs us to another person. The interest can quickly turn into desire as something in a person begins to strive for or “gravitate” toward those values (p. 130). At the stage of desire, the person affected by sexual values more actively turns to the bearer of those values and seeks him (or her) out. Sensual desire does not yet reach the threshold of willing, “but clearly tries to become it” (p. 130). When desire is not moderated but manages to impose itself on the will, the result is carnal or bodily love, which deliberately seeks enjoyment and satisfaction in the “body and sex” (p. 131). The possibility of these rapid transformations underscores the power of sensual desire, which conceals itself behind sensuality.

Thus, concupiscence of the flesh can pass from interest to desire, and from desire to willing, whereby one gives into his desires and deliberately seeks an outlet in bodily love. Concupiscence of the flesh pulls one toward a human being of the opposite sex; it proceeds in the direction of satisfying sexual desire, but once that desire is satisfied, “the entire relation to the object of desire breaks off” (pp. 131–132). For example, one man might find that his sexual interest in an attractive co-worker eventually leads to a strong sexual desire. But he overcomes these errant desires and finds ways to avoid the woman so he will not give in to his weakness. Thanks to his temperance, there is no transition to the next stage of willing or a deliberate attempt to initiate an illicit sexual relationship with her. Another colleague, however, has the same desires for this woman and he doesn’t control them. So he willfully chooses to seduce her in order to indulge his lust. In the latter case, concupiscence of the flesh has induced this man’s will (with his free cooperation) to pursue a temporary relationship with the woman, which is based on use for the sake of pleasure.

Carnal or bodily love born of uncontrolled concupiscence substitutes “the body and sex” for the whole person (p. 132). The body is detached from the person, and so it is no longer the means of giving to another, a medium for expressing commitment and contributing to the other’s good, which is the essence of love. Rather, the body becomes “a ‘terrain’ of appropriation of the other person.”4 Concupiscence impels us toward physical intimacy. But if that intimacy is based solely on errant sexual desire, it does not have the value of a personal union. Hence it is the “denial of the love of persons,” since it rests on the impulse to enjoy and to take rather than to give and to receive (p.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.