标题:AreYouMakingLoveorJustHavingSex? source:psychologyaclasstaghrefwiki10807H1。htmltoaday丨byElliotD。CohenPh。D。 翻译请保留原文链接哦 欲翻译的小伙伴,可评论领稿,并把已完成的译文发在自己的心理圈or个人主页的日志内。请领稿的小伙伴,尽量在一个星期内完成翻译,谢谢!! Itisoftensaidthatmakingloveisjustaeuphemismforhavingsex。Tobesure,thesetermsarefrequentlyusedinterchangeably。Unfortunately,thiscommonuse(ormisuse)canmasktheimportantdistinctionbetweenthesetwoactivities。Indeed,manypeoplewhohavegoodsexmistakeitforloveonlytofindoutthattheirapparentloverwasnotthepersonwithwhomtheycaredtospendtheirlife。 Thisisnottoproclaimthemoral,orprudential,superiorityofmakinglove。Indeedsomewouldprefertojusthavesex。Sexalleviatestension,saidWoodyAllen,Lovecausesit。Still,itisimportantthatonegetswhatonebargainsfor。 Ofcourse,makinglove(asdistinctfrombeinginlove)necessarilyinvolveshavingsex。Buthavingsex,evengreatsex,isnotnecessarilymakinglovejustasanicecoolbeerisnotaglassofwine。Truly,somemaypreferthetasteoftheonetotheother,andabeermaybethedrinkofchoiceonagivenoccasion(say,ataKnicksgame);butitwouldindeedbeunfortunateifoneorderedaglassofMerlotinanintimatesettingandwasservedaBudd。 Soareyoumakingloveorjusthavingsex?Areyougettingwhatyoureallywant?Andifnot,howcanyougetit? Thefirstofthesethreequestionscanbeansweredonlyifoneknowsthedifferencebetweenhavingsexversusmakinglove。Butthis,inturn,requirespinningdownthemeaningsofeach。 AccordingtophilosopherAlanGoldman,sexualactivityisactivitywhichtendstofulfillsuchdesireoftheagent。 Goldmanclaimsthatsexualactivityisnotnecessarilyameanstoanyfurtherend。Forexample,soyouarenotdoinganythingwrong(thatis,misusingyourbody)ifyouarehavingsexwithouttryingtogetpregnant。Indeed,accordingtoGoldman,thereisnoessentialpurposetosexbeyondfulfillingyourdesireforcontactwithanotherperson’sbody。 IthinkwecantakeGoldman’saccountofsexualactivityasaworkingdefinitionfordevelopingandcontrastingtheideaoflovemaking。Inasmuchassexisadesireforphysicalcontactwithsomeoneelse’sbody,itisamechanicalactivity。Rubbing,touching,caressing,kissing,sucking,biting,and,ofcourse,intercourse,asfulfillmentsofadesireforphysicalcontact,areallsexualactivitiesinthissense。Here,akeywordismechanicalbecausetheseactivitiesareessentiallywaysofmechanicallystimulatingorarousingoneself。Perse,theyareselfregarding。Theyseekselfgratificationfulfillmentofapurelyselfinteresteddesire。AsphilosopherImmanuelKantstated,SexuallovemakesofthelovedpersonanOassoonasthatappetitehasbeenstilled,thepersoniscastasideasonecastsawayalemonwhichhasbeensuckeddry。HeretheideathatsexualloveisselfregardingisclearlyarticulatedbyKant。However,forKant,itisinthetransformationfromselfregardingtootherregardingsexualactivitythatsexpartnersbegintoseeeachotheraspersonsratherthanasmereobjectsorthings。Thushesays,undertheonecondition,thatastheonepersonisacquiredbytheotherasathing,thatsamepersonalsoequallyacquirestheotherreciprocally,andthusregainsandreestablishestherationalpersonality。 Suchreciprocalsexualactivityis,forKant,possibleonlyinthecontextofmonogamousmarriagewhereeachsexpartnergivestheotheracontractualrighttotheother’sbody。Inthiscase,mutualdesiresforphysicalcontactwithoneanother’sbodiesaregratifiedbyeachsexpartner。Butwhilethismutualsexualagreement(whetherinsideoroutsidethecontextofmarriage)maybeaprecursortolovemaking,thelattertakesmorethanmutualconsenttoleteachothersatisfyasexualdesire。Thisisbecausesuchmutualityisstillmechanicalandfocusedonone’sownstateofarousalasdistinctfromthatoftheotherandthereforefailstocapturetheintimatecharacteroflovemaking。SoKant’sideaofsexuallove,eveninitsmutualsense,isnottrulythatoflovemaking。 Sowhatelsebesidesmutualityisinvolvedinlovemaking? Asdistinctfrommeresex,lovemakingdissolvesthechasmbetweenyouandme。Theresolution,however,isnotusbecausewecanstillbedivided。Instead,inlovemakingthereisthemutualconsciousnessofunboundedunitywithoutpartition。Love,sayspsychologistEricFromm,isintheexperienceofsolidaritywithourfellowcreatures。Itis,explainsAristotle,composedofasinglesoulinhabitingtwobodies。Inmakinglove,yourloinsaremine,andmineyours。Thetitillationsofmineareyoursalso,andconversely。Mypast,present,myhopes,dreams,andyours,coalesceasonenottwopersons。Thereisresignationofseparatenesstoinclusionoftheother。ItisanecstaticresonancethatdefiesanybreachinOneness。 IttakestwotoTango,andsotoodoesittake(atleast)twotomakelove。Unreciprocatedlovemakingisunsuccessfullovemaking。Theflamesoflovemakingarequicktodiewhenonegivesoneself,bodyandsoul,onlytobeturnedaway。Wheretheotherseeksonlyabody,wantingonlysex,lovemakingissquanderedevenifitisnot(atleastatfirst)apparenttotheoneattemptingtomakelove。Itisacounterfeitifbasedonpretensebecausethereisduality,notunity,andthereismanipulationandobjectification,notauthentic,mutualrespect。 AsphilosopherMartinBuberwouldexpressit,theintimacyoflovemakingisatthelevelofIThouasdistinctfromIIt。Thus,youceasetobeanobjectorthingandinsteadbecomeThou。IamboundupwithyouasThouandyouwithme。Ofcourse,asBuberremindsus,theunityoftheIThouisnotpermanentandImustatsomepointbegintoseeyouasanIt。Forexample,intouchingeachother’sbody,eachdoeswhatheorsheknowsismosteroticallyfeltbytheother。Herethereisasortofdelicate,momentaryanalysisanddeliberatetargetingofabodypart。ButinstantaneouslyeachbecomesThouagainwithcominglingofnotjustbodybutsoul。Inmakinglove,thereisthusavirtuallyseamlessreciprocitybetweenIItandIThou。 Thereisalsopowerfulsymbolisminlovemakingasdepicted。Foreplaygraduallybuildstoclimaxasintheunfoldingofalifeoftwolivingasone。Assuch,makingloveisinspirational,foritsignifiesandembodiestwomutuallylivingasone。 ErichFIntheactofloving,Iamonewithall,yet,Iammyself,aseparate,unique,limitedmortalhumanbeing。Here,Frommiscarefultostressthatlove(inallofitsmanifestationsandnotjustinromanticlove)isnotbondageandsubjectiontoanotherhumanbeingordenialofone’sautonomy。However,themutualityoflovemakingasdepictedhereguardsagaindomination,forthegoalisnottocontroltheotherbutinsteadtoloseoneselfintheotherastheotherinoneself。 Thishasimplicationsforthecognitive,perceptual,andsymbolicaspectsoflovemaking。Whenonemerelyhassex,oneperceivestheotherasanobjectofpleasure,asKantdescribes。Inmeresexualactivityonemayseektodominate,control,andevenhumiliateinordertoelicitsexualpleasure。Indeed,thereareasmanywaystocognizeandtreatone’ssexpartnerastherearewaysthehumananimalcansatisfyasexualdesire。But,lovemakingisunifyingwhereasthesecognitionsarerelationalandassumelogicallydistinctbeings。Forexample,masochisticsexthinkingofoneselfaslowlyandservilerelegatesoneselftosomethinglessthanandthereforedistinctfromone’ssexpartner。 Incontrast,thelanguageoflovemakinginvolvesthoughts(andperceptions)thatuniteratherthanseparate,divide,oralienate。Twoheartsbeatingasoneexpressesaunifyingmetaphor,whileIwanttofeelyouallovercanbeveryeroticbutstillobjectifying。Iwanttogetlostinsideofyoucanbebotheroticandunifying。Unifyingthoughtscanbedeeplypersonalandcanreplayinthemind’seyemomentsofintimacyandsolidarity。Tanadoring(oradorable)ortheinstantwhenyouknewyouwantedtobetogetherforaneternity。Torsetintopoeticverse。Onehalfofmeisyours,speaksShakespeare’sPortia(inhisMerchantofVenice),andtheotherhalfmyownhalf,I’dcallitbelongstoyoutoo。Ifit’smine,thenit’syours,andsoI’mallyours。Initsdiversenuancedforms,fromShakespearetotheaverageJoe,thelanguageoflovemakingsymbolizes,andinvites,thecoalescenceoftwointoone。Incontrast,comparethedisunifying,objectifyingnatureofthefourletterlanguageofjusthavingsex。 AdaptingametaphorgleanedfromtheneoPlatonistphilosopherPlotinus,theunityexperiencedinlovemakingmaybecomparedtoanaxiomaticsystem。Ebutthesystemitselfisoverandaboveanddistinctfromanyofitsaxioms。Similarly,theunityoflovemakingisnotpossiblewithoutthetwolovers,butitisoverandaboveanddistinctfromthem。So,inthissense,thereisstilldistinctnessinunity。ButitistheOnenessoflovemakingthatitselfadmitsofnodivision。 Accordingly,itisessentiallythisunifyingaspectoftheactivityoflovemakingthatlargelydistinguishesitfrommeresex。Andhereisacentralhowoflovemakingthatfollowsfromit:Sandtrustthattheotherreciprocates。For,likereligiousexperience,lovemakinghasanelementoffaith。Ifyouattempttohavesexwithoutsuchfaith,thenyouwillonlyhavesex。 Transcendtheselfinteresteddesireforsexualsatisfactionsothatyoursexualpartner’sselfbecomesyours,andconversely,makingthegoalofotherregardingsexmoot。 So,doyouhavetobeinloveinordertomakelove?TogetahandleonananswertothisquestionyoumightconsiderwhatIhavehadtosayinmyblogonHowgoodareyouatmakinglove?Inanyevent,myconsideredjudgmentisthatitcanhelptobeinlove。Butthisdoesn’tmeanthatonemustbeinlove。ForIsuspectthatmanypeoplemakelovewellbefore(ifever)theyareactuallyinlove。 Givenitspowerfulsymbolism,buildingalovingsexualrelationship,asheredescribed,mayevenpavethewaytoamorelovingrelationshipbeyondthebedroom。Tryitout。Thetasteofwineiswhatyoumaycrave。Butsometimesonemayalsowantatall,coldone。Soitdoesn’tmeanyoucan’t,whenthemoodisright,justhavesex。