What happens when people have sexual desires for one another? Agnes Callard from the University of Chicago discusses sex, eroticism, and much more in conversation with Nigel Warburton. Not surprisingly, this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast involves mention of sex.
This is philosophy bites with me, Nigel.
Warburton and me, David Edmonds.
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There are, I assume, very few people who think about philosophy when they're having sex.
As it happens, there are also very few people who think about sexual whilst doing philosophy.
Agnes Callard teaches at the University of Chicago.
What makes her such an interesting and unusual thinker is a talent for directing her philosophical flair towards everyday human activities, including sex.
Agnes Callard, welcome to philosophy bites.
Thank you.
The topic we're going to focus on today is sex.
Obviously, it's of interest to most of us.
How did you get into thinking about this from a philosophical angle?
I was reading this essay called what is sex for?
By David Halperin.
And in the essay he has this description of the way sex works in gay bathhouses, where if he has sex with his boyfriend at home, he always has to wonder, was he just kind of going along with it?
Was he trying to make something up to me?
Was there some ulterior motive why he was willing to have sex with me?