Extra Ordinary Ideas

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And you thought modern notions of intellectual property were burdensome. Alan Soble writes:

"Rousseau's criticism of masturbation ... rests on an imagined violation of or harm done to others. For Rousseau, the "vice" of masturbation 'has a particular attraction for lively imaginations. It allows them to dispose, so to speak, of the whole female sex at their will, and to make any beauty who tempts them serve their pleasure without the need of first obtaining her consent.'

For Rousseau, masturbation with fantasy is a mental rape (but only "so to speak"). It both involves the 'use' of one person by another and avoids the dangers of a real-world encounter with a person."