Lust declared virtue, not vice

[Resistance]

BBC Story

Lust has been wrongly branded a vice and should be "reclaimed for humanity" as a life-affirming virtue, according to a top philsopher.

Professor Simon Blackburn of Cambridge University is trying to "rescue" lust, arguing it has been wrongly condemned for centuries, the Sunday Times says.

His campaign is part of an Oxford University Press project on the modern relevance of the seven deadly sins.

According to the Sunday Times, Prof Blackburn has defined lust as "the enthusiastic desire for sexual activity and its pleasures for its own sake".

[NightTrain]

1. Now tell me something I *don't* know!

;)

[Mercurius]

2. I've always considered lust

to be a perfect compliment to love. Therefore, it must be a virtue. :-)

[Torrey Pines]

3. For my 100th post,

I want to tell you that I agree with you completely. Je t'aime, Mercurius. ;-)

[Mercurius]

4. I certianly liked your 100th post!

Je t'aime, aussi. But you already knew that. ;-)

[peacefreak]

7. And...

virtue is its own punishment:evilgrin:

[Deja Q]

5. Lust isn't great, but given the means to satisfy the lust is destructive.

People lust after money. Most of them can be found in America.

People lust after sex. Most of them can be found in Amsterdam.

People lust after collections of things. Most of them own lots of credit cards.

Lust is bad. The means for obtaining what one lusts after is worse.

[Nikia]

6. Only if it is mutual and no one gets hurt

In many cultures of the past and present, most people got married around puberty. These marriages were often arranged. If they were lusting, it was usually after someone else's spouse. Adultery, in most cultures, is considered bad and usually someone usually got hurt if this lust was fullfilled, even killed.
Currently in the U.S. most people do not marry so close to going through puberty. More people are marrying later or not at all. Lust is usually a factor in choosing a marriage partner now. This can be good or bad. Dating is usually longer and closer than the trraditional courtship so lust might be necessary as a build up to marriage but it can also blind people into marrying someone incompatible. Some people go through a lusting phase in which they have no desire to find a marriage partner. They want only sex, without a relationship. If their sexual partner does not share the same views, their sex partner will get hurt. Some people lust after people that don't want them. This can lead to sexual harassment or even sexual assult. This is not good either.
Lust is good in a marriage or other committed partnership because it helps bind the couple together and stay interested. I don't know if I'd call it good in other instances although not harmful in some other cases.