Is There an Inherent and Morally Required Connection Between Love and Sex - Essay Example

The paper provides a brief philosophic discussion of what love and sex are and reevaluates the significance of the love-sex connection in philosophy. Keywords: sex, love, philosophy, connection, morality. Is There an Inherent or Morally Required Connection between Sex and Love? Philosophy is one of the most interesting sources of information about reality and life. Philosophy provides a unique channel for self-reflection and analysis of the most controversial aspects of the social, economic, and cultural reality.

The value of philosophy is not only in the questions it raises but in the answers it provides and the analytical and systematic nature of the philosophic method (Halwani, 2010). It would be fair to say that philosophy reacts to the emerging issues, to understand their nature and provide possible solutions. The topic of sex and love has long been a matter of hot philosophic debate. Most world religions, especially in the western world, treat sex without love as inacceptable and immoral. In the meantime, the postmodern world is moving toward greater rationality in all life decisions, including sex.

Sex provides physical pleasure and creates an atmosphere of intimacy, for which many people long. In the postmodern reality, there is no required connection between love and sex; there is nothing immoral in pursuing sexual desire, if it is mutual; love can add intensity to sexual relations but it is not mandatory in physical contacts among humans. Humans consider themselves as higher creatures. They have mind, cognition, and language which no animals have. They also have a unique capacity to be in love and love others.

This is why love is often believed to be a mandatory component in the sexual relations among humans. However, the connection between love and sex is not simple but multidimensional. It involves a broad range of feelings, from pure sexual desire, to the feeling of victory, intimacy, and love. In the postmodern world ruled by rationality and reason, love gives place to other mundane considerations, and sex without love is no longer considered immoral. Yet, to clarify why the connection between love is neither required nor relevant, we first need to understand the nature of love and the philosophic implications of sex and sexual desire.

Sex remains one of the most controversial aspects of philosophy, morality, and ethics. Thousands of people keep to a belief that sexual desire is immoral, if it is not linked to attraction and love. Others claim that sex is empty without feeling. Whatever the reason, the nature of sex, especially plain sex, in philosophy raised different interpretations. Basically, sexual love was always considered as inferior to platonic love (Goldenberg et al., 1999). The latter presupposed that people who engaged in sexual intercourse had greater moral goals, namely procreation, and based their sexual desires on the constant exchange of other, non-sexual beliefs, interests and experiences.

Religions in all parts of the world supported this view, trying to equate the nature of chastity with the meaning of virtue (Goldenberg et al., 1999). In the non-western world, sex is favored and desired in marriage but not beyond it; Indian and African cultures treat sex as an indispensable component of people’s daily lives. At the beginning of the postmodern era, sex has acquired new philosophic coloring, being both the