PHL 606 Study Guide - Thomas Nagel, Ryerson University, Paraphilia
26 Nov 2014
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Document Summary
Human sexuality has been a point of great debate for man since the beginning of civilization. In the more modern times, people have started focusing on the proper definition and categorization of sexuality and its perversions. One prominent philosopher who attempted to try and tackle this issue is american philosopher thomas nagel, who had a somewhat simple yet elegant view on sexual desires and perversions. Thomas nagel starts off by presenting the skeptical argument for sexual desires, where society construes it as an appetite. According to the normal societal views, all appetites are normal since they are part of the human physiological make up (nagel). Thus, sexual desires are considered an appetite, and since all appetites are considered normal, one can conclude that sexual desires are normal. Nagel"s main point of contention with this view is that there are often appetites that would not be considered normal, and similarly they"re sexual desires that can be viewed as not normal.
