Category: Part 5: Marriage is… for Procreation
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Erasmus on Sexual Temptation
About the Author Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1469 – 1536) was a Dutch humanist scholar of vast learning and expertise. As Europe was rocked by the Protestant Reformation, Erasmus became known as one of Church’s most subtle and conciliatory defenders. Erasmus’ writing output was vast, and he counted among his friends men like the English scholar…
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Plato on Sex and Immortality
About the Author The philosopher Aristocles, better known to us by his nickname Plato (428/7 – 348/7 BC) wrote many dialogues featuring his great teacher, Socrates (c. 470 – 399 BC). Although Socrates was a real person, the words Plato puts in his mouth are often Plato’s own thoughts. In Plato’s Symposium, the fictional character Socrates…
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Saint Augustine on the Birds (and the Bees)
About the Author Saint Augustine, more fully introduced above, had interests beyond engaging with the Manichees as seen earlier. Augustine’s interests in philosophy were wide. Like his Platonist teachers, Augustine recognized nature as a hierarchical structure. In this passage from On Marriage and Concupiscence, Saint Augustine considers what we can learn from the fact that…