Lust: The Seven Deadly Sins (New York Public Library Lectures in Humanities)

192 Pages·2004·4.47 MB·english

by  Simon Blackburn

Lust:
The Seven Deadly Sins
Simon Blackburn
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Lust
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Pride
Michael Eric Dyson
Envy
Joseph Epstein
Anger
Robert A. F. Thurman
Sloth
Wendy Wasserstein
Greed
Phyllis A. Tickle
Gluttony
Francine Prose
Lust
Simon Blackburn
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F
or over a decade, the New York Public Library and Oxford
University Press have annually invited a prominent figure in the
arts and letters to give a series of lectures on a topic of his or her
choice. Subsequently these lectures become the basis of a book
jointly published by the Library and the Press. For 2002 and 2003
the two institutions asked seven noted writers, scholars, and critics
to offer a “meditation on temptation” on one of the seven deadly
sins. Lust by Simon Blackburn is the third book from this lecture
series.
Previous books from the New York Public Library/Oxford
University Press Lectures are:
The Old World’s New World by C. Vann Woodward
Culture of Complaint: The Fraying of America by Robert Hughes
Witches and Jesuits: Shakespeare’s Macbeth by Garry Wills
Visions of the Future: The Distant Past, Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
by Robert Heilbroner
Doing Documentary Work by Robert Coles
The Sun, the Genome, and the Internet by Freeman J. Dyson
The Look of Architecture by Witold Rybczynski
Visions of Utopia by Edward Rothstein, Herbert Muschamp,
and Martin E. Marty
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Also by Simon Blackburn
Being Good: An Introduction to Ethics
Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy
Ruling Passions: A Theory of Practical Reasoning
The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy
Essays in Quasi-Realism
Spreading the Word: Groundings in the Philosophy or Language
Edited Works
Meaning, Reference, and Necessity (editor)
Truth (with Keith Simmons)
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Lust
The Seven Deadly Sins
Simon Blackburn
The New York Public Library
2004
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Oxford New York
Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai
Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi
São Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto
Copyright © 2004 by Simon Blackburn
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
www.oup.com
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Blackburn, Simon.
Lust : the seven deadly sins / Simon Blackburn
p. cm.
Based on a lecture series in the humanities hosted by the
New York Public Library.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-19-516200-5
1. Lust—religious aspects—Christianity.
I. Title.
BV4627.L8B5852004
176—dc21
Simon Blackburn had asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work.
Every effort has been made to observe copyright restrictions regarding the art work.
Please notify Oxford University Press if you are aware of any infringement.
Book design by planettheo.com
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Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
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Contents
EDITOR’S NOTE ix
PREFACE xi
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER ONE
Desire 13
CHAPTER TWO
Excess 21
CHAPTER THREE
Two Problems from Plato 29
CHAPTER FOUR
Stiff Upper Lips 41
CHAPTER FIVE
The Christian Panic 49
CHAPTER SIX
The Legacy 65
CHAPTER SEVEN
What Nature Intended 69
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CHAPTER EIGHT
Some Consequences 73
CHAPTER NINE
Shakespeare versus Dorothy Parker 79
CHAPTER TEN
Hobbesian Unity 87
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Disasters 93
CHAPTER TWELVE
Substitutions 103
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Evolution and Desire 111
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Overcoming Pessimism 127
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Farewell 133
NOTES 135
INDEX 143