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BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 8:08:13 AM   
Intellectual


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Hello all!

I'm German and I've recently come to the conclusion that BDSM is ultimately inevitable, although not quite yet. This comes from my social theory that each positive human trait/value is accompanied by a negative one, which needs to be transferred to the sexual realm in order to be rendered harmless. Social problems arise when sexual desires are mixed up with social/family-like values.

Here's my list of the eigth basic human needs mirrored by their sexual counterparts. I started out doing this in German and then translated the list into English, so I'll first provide the list in German and then the English translation. Here goes:



Beschützerinstinkt/Kontrollsucht

Freiheit/Erniedrigung

Empathie/Machtstreben

Wohlbefinden/Unterwerfung

Ansehen/Verachtung

Freundschaft/Selbstbeherrschung

Allmachtsgefühl/Sadismus

Verantwortung/Selbstaufgabe




Protective instinct/Control addiction

Freedom/Humiliation

Empathy/Power addiction

Well-being/Submission

Reputation/Contempt

Friendship/Self-restraint

Omnipotence/Sadism

Responsibility/Self-sacrifice


It would be interesting to hear your views!

< Message edited by Intellectual -- 9/1/2012 8:12:00 AM >
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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 8:14:20 AM   
ResidentSadist


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Well . . . I guess that is one way to look at it. I always looked at the dominance and submission aspects as being an extension of the natural order. I have never seen sadism or some of the other things you mention in the natural order. If it isn't natural, somehow I do not feel it is inevitable to the human condition. But that's just my view.

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 8:51:28 AM   
txdiamond68


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quote:

Social problems arise when sexual desires are mixed up with social/family-like values.


I'm going to have to disagree with this. While I do believe that sexuality is often influenced by family and society, ( i.e. "Good girls just don't do things like that!" ), I don't believe that our sexual desires cause social problems. They may manifest themselves in a manner that gets them in trouble with society, but I don't believe it is sexual desires that causes even a serial rapist to do what he does. Its the lack of power in their own lives during their formative years that causes them to act out in the manner they do.

The reason I am a slave isn't because of some sort of societal or family dysfunction, it is built into me. I have been fantasizing about a Master commanding me since I was old enough to play pretend games about being a damsel in distress. I used to tie myself up over and over just because it gave me a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach that I loved, though I didn't understand it at the time. I believe we are born with certain tendencies and over the course of our lives we either nurture them or surpress them.

Those are my thoughts on the matter, your mileage may vary.

~t

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 9:01:57 AM   
DarkSteven


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I don't follow. "BDSM is ultimately inevitable, although not quite yet" makes no sense. What are the factors holding it up?

There is no simple binary, of BDSM and not-BDSM. I've engaged in activities that didn't neatly fit into either camp, such as ageplay. And I DO NOT want to deal with positive and negative traits and values, and with determining which behavior fits in which bucket. That aspect alone will introduce tremendous subjectivity into any model.

BTW, off topic, but your English is pretty impressive for a non-native speaker.

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Quit fretting. We men love you."

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 9:44:55 AM   
doctorgrey


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Intellectual

Hello all!

I'm German


DrG

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 9:59:31 AM   
Intellectual


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quote:

ORIGINAL: DarkSteven

I don't follow. "BDSM is ultimately inevitable, although not quite yet" makes no sense. What are the factors holding it up?



I'm not saying that BDSM is being held up. BDSM has been practiced since Marquis de Sade in the late 18th century as far as I'm aware. However, you can safely ignore and avoid BDSM if you don't like it. People who are engaging in BDSM activities these days are simply trading BDSM for vanilla sex, prostitution and/or pornography/masturbation.

However, I've come to the conclusion that BDSM will become inevitable as the world becomes a smaller and smaller place and economic pressures subside, simply because it will become more and more difficult to pretend that you care about your own family, when in fact you're an unemployed idiot with no girlfriend.

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 10:05:01 AM   
Intellectual


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quote:

ORIGINAL: txdiamond68

I'm going to have to disagree with this. While I do believe that sexuality is often influenced by family and society, ( i.e. "Good girls just don't do things like that!" ), I don't believe that our sexual desires cause social problems.


Maybe this will clarify things for you. If a family member says "Good girls just don't do things like that", they are transfering their control addiction (which is sexual) to the social/family setting, which will result in frictions within the family and thus causes social problems.

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 10:07:38 AM   
Intellectual


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quote:

ORIGINAL: ResidentSadist

Well . . . I guess that is one way to look at it. I always looked at the dominance and submission aspects as being an extension of the natural order. I have never seen sadism or some of the other things you mention in the natural order. If it isn't natural, somehow I do not feel it is inevitable to the human condition. But that's just my view.


Sadism is not in the natural order because it doesn't usually occur within tribes. However, it shows up during times of war. Have you never watches WW2 movies, where everything gets blown up and the enemy is torn apart by mortar splinters and you thought "Wow! That was amazing and powerful."

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 10:12:18 AM   
Restyles


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Intellectual


quote:

ORIGINAL: ResidentSadist

Well . . . I guess that is one way to look at it. I always looked at the dominance and submission aspects as being an extension of the natural order. I have never seen sadism or some of the other things you mention in the natural order. If it isn't natural, somehow I do not feel it is inevitable to the human condition. But that's just my view.


Sadism is not in the natural order because it doesn't usually occur within tribes. However, it shows up during times of war. Have you never watches WW2 movies, where everything gets blown up and the enemy is torn apart by mortar splinters and you thought "Wow! That was amazing and powerful."


I would argue the opposite...it does naturally occur within tribes and it is suppressed as those tribes become more socially advanced.

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 11:39:51 AM   
Intellectual


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Restyles
I would argue the opposite...it does naturally occur within tribes and it is suppressed as those tribes become more socially advanced.


I doubt that sadism can be suppressed through social institutions. Every newborn is a potential terrorist. And how do you deal with a terrorist ready to sacrifice himself for a cause that you consider to be utterly tribal, if not through sadism?

Do you remember the picture of Barrack Obama's face when he watched Osama bin Laden die? That was sadism.




Attachment (1)

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 2:58:56 PM   
Whenready


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Omnipotence is a basic human need? Obama a sadistic voyeur? BDSM is inevitable?

Good luck with your theory. Sadly, it bears little resemblance to the world as I see it.

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 3:02:06 PM   
DesFIP


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I don't know why you think humiliation is the opposite of freedom, it makes no sense to me.

And dominants can be empathetic, I want to say should be, if they're good dominants.

This may make more sense in German. It doesn't wash in English.

Nor should you believe that your abilities at mind reading are such that you can interpret what the President was thinking. Because I don't know anyone else who would look at that expression and come to the conclusion you have. You are allowing your own political beliefs to color your reality. Never a wise thing to do.

Oh, and if only the mods would give us permission, you would see sadism in action about your nickname. Alas we will have to refrain for fear of a gold letter.

< Message edited by DesFIP -- 9/1/2012 3:07:22 PM >


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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 3:31:42 PM   
Intellectual


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quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP

I don't know why you think humiliation is the opposite of freedom, it makes no sense to me.

And dominants can be empathetic, I want to say should be, if they're good dominants.

This may make more sense in German. It doesn't wash in English.




Right. So, I could have written slavery instead of humiliation. The German translation "Erniedrigung" actually means the act of being put in the position of a servant, which doesn't readily translate. Being a servant is obviously the opposite of being free.

I don't know why dominants should be empathetic. You cannot submit to empathy, only to power addiction.

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 3:33:29 PM   
Intellectual


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Whenready

Omnipotence is a basic human need? Obama a sadistic voyeur? BDSM is inevitable?

Good luck with your theory. Sadly, it bears little resemblance to the world as I see it.



Yes, I do believe that omnipotence is a universal human goal. Every little kid wants their daddy to be omnipotent. And every good father would love to be seen as omnipotent in the eyes of their children.

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 4:03:36 PM   
Whenready


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Now I'm going to be picky here... but at the philosophy as stated, not as a personal attack.

Firstly, we'll have to agree to differ on omnipotence as a universal goal. You think it is; I think that omnipotence is a condition of deity, and is not a human goal.

Most fathers want to protect their children from harm. However, if I as a good father, protect my children from all harm, how will they learn, and how will they become independent? Or am I to use my omnipotence to shazam it into them? As for the counterpart of omnipotence being sadism, bunkum. Cuddles from the omnipotent one would be just as potent.

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 4:32:19 PM   
Intellectual


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Whenready

Firstly, we'll have to agree to differ on omnipotence as a universal goal. You think it is; I think that omnipotence is a condition of deity, and is not a human goal.




Well, if you do not believe in omnipotence as a universal goal, you will eventually have to wage war on tribes that DO believe in omnipotence (like the Germans), which in turn will force you into sadism in order to beat us.

So, it would be better if omnipotence was shared as a common goal by all cultures.

See what I mean?

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 9:24:25 PM   
chemeli


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Intellectual


quote:

ORIGINAL: txdiamond68

I'm going to have to disagree with this. While I do believe that sexuality is often influenced by family and society, ( i.e. "Good girls just don't do things like that!" ), I don't believe that our sexual desires cause social problems.


Maybe this will clarify things for you. If a family member says "Good girls just don't do things like that", they are transfering their control addiction (which is sexual) to the social/family setting, which will result in frictions within the family and thus causes social problems.


What kind of social problems? If they are transferring their control addiction as protective instinct (which in your list, you claim to be the yin and yang of one another) isnt that much more about them transferring values and mindset ? How are values being social problems?

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 9:26:16 PM   
chemeli


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quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP

I don't know why you think humiliation is the opposite of freedom, it makes no sense to me. Ditto.

And dominants can be empathetic, I want to say should be, if they're good dominants.

Nor should you believe that your abilities at mind reading are such that you can interpret what the President was thinking. Because I don't know anyone else who would look at that expression and come to the conclusion you have. You are allowing your own political beliefs to color your reality. Never a wise thing to do.

Oh, and if only the mods would give us permission, you would see sadism in action about your nickname. Alas we will have to refrain for fear of a gold letter.


You read my mind.

I also dont see sadism in the president's face, only a deep concentration and focus about what is going on.

_____________________________

It's a woman, it doesnt know what it wants (aka the stereotypical joke)

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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 9:58:06 PM   
Kana


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quote:

Sadism is not in the natural order because it doesn't usually occur within tribes. However, it shows up during times of war. Have you never watches WW2 movies, where everything gets blown up and the enemy is torn apart by mortar splinters and you thought "Wow! That was amazing and powerful."


Dude-you need to read Lord of the Flies.
Since you like philosophy, how bout going back to an original, Hobbes.
He famously postulated that life w/o civilization, as in the original primal nature state is solitary, lonely, nasty, brutish and short. In this state, everyone is entitled to anything and everything in the world. This in turn leads to bellum omnium contra omnes, an eternal war of all against all for survival (The modern version of this of course is Anne Rice's depiction of the world as the savage garden)
In this world there can never be peace, so there can never be industry, trade, culture, arts or agriculture.
Thus, in order to live life, man surrenders some of his initial rights to everything and anything-thus the social contract is formed.

You're coming at this from the wrong tack. Man's natural state of being is not sadism, but self-sustainment (See Mazlow and his hierarchy). In order to sustain himself, man uses war. This is not due to sadism, or cruelty purely for the sake of cruelty, but rather that he may live and have the commodities required to continue living. Now I'm not going to argue that war is kind or fun or that men frequently don't revert (Because they obviously do), but generally speaking , especially in modern times, war starts where diplomacy fails.
It ain't done out of savagery. It ain't done merely to hear someone suffer. People have reasons to go to war.
Almost (And I believe all, I'm just hedging here) wars are resource wars-someone else has something that the other wants and is willing to take-it's armed robbery on a grand scale. Mask em in politics and nobility, cloak em in moral guises and clever reasons, but they almost always come down to Gimme, gimme, gimme.

As for this,
quote:

Social problems arise when sexual desires are mixed up with social/family-like values.
, that's just blatantly ridiculous. People commit crimes all the time out of things that have zip to do with sex, greed being the first and foremost of those.
Besides, how do you apply this to societies that don't really have sexual hangups, like ancient china where pretty much anything went and was acceptable. Just because the western world has all sorts of hangups (Usually rooted in Judeo Christian ethical/moral standards that society has adopted) doesn't mean other cultures do.
Jews have no religious concept of sexual sin-they don't have to get hung up at all, why would they? Shinto could care less, and some Buddhist sects are downright wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiild
So explain why these people are fucked up just like the rest of us...

Finally, re your original thesis
quote:

I'm German and I've recently come to the conclusion that BDSM is ultimately inevitable, although not quite yet.
I would argue the opposite. The trend in history is towards less sadism, more compassion, a kinder world. In much of the world, lords can't rape serfs. torture is no longer socially acceptable (Public hangings no longer occur for instance), laws have become less draconian, hell, many civilized governments don't even own a workable Iron Maiden anymore.
It's a bloody tragedy.
Now personally I tend more towards the idea that civilizations rise and fall in a series of ebbs and flows, man tends to revert to more savage states when things dissolve, but maybe I'm being cynical.

But sadism as the inevitable state, naaaaaah, that ain't gonna happen.


< Message edited by Kana -- 9/1/2012 10:00:36 PM >


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RE: BDSM and philosophy - 9/1/2012 10:29:11 PM   
xssve


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Very German, but no - or rather, it's putting the cart before the horse - why all these traits, what purpose do they serve?

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