I don’t see how that is a strong counterexample, actually.
I mean, it’s clear that in those cases there’s a sexual desire for men, and no sexual desire for women, but it’s not at all clear that either of those are the result of a “pre-existing desire” as opposed to “a handful of inborn influences, a heap of cultural and situational influence, and a gradual accumulation of preferences from cognition and experience.”
Admittedly, it’s not clear to me what would be a counterexample, or more generally what I’d expect to experience differently if Julian were right or wrong.
So perhaps I’m merely misunderstanding altogether.
That is an interesting question. What would a strongly foreordained desire look like? (NB I am deliberately not saying inborn, with its genetic implications) And how would it look different to an accumulated desire?
Well, that’s basically my question to you, actually.
That is: you’re saying you don’t believe in pre-existing desires, and believe instead in desires that emerge from a variety of influences (inborn, cultural, situational, cognitive, and experiential).
I’m not really sure what the difference between those two things even is, in terms of anticipated experience, so I’m not sure there’s any meaningful difference to be discussed.
For my own part, when a pattern of desire is common across multiple cultures and situations and individuals, I’m not inclined to treat it as primarily an emergent property of cultural, situational, or experiential influences.
I don’t see how that is a strong counterexample, actually.
I mean, it’s clear that in those cases there’s a sexual desire for men, and no sexual desire for women, but it’s not at all clear that either of those are the result of a “pre-existing desire” as opposed to “a handful of inborn influences, a heap of cultural and situational influence, and a gradual accumulation of preferences from cognition and experience.”
Admittedly, it’s not clear to me what would be a counterexample, or more generally what I’d expect to experience differently if Julian were right or wrong.
So perhaps I’m merely misunderstanding altogether.
That is an interesting question. What would a strongly foreordained desire look like? (NB I am deliberately not saying inborn, with its genetic implications) And how would it look different to an accumulated desire?
Well, that’s basically my question to you, actually.
That is: you’re saying you don’t believe in pre-existing desires, and believe instead in desires that emerge from a variety of influences (inborn, cultural, situational, cognitive, and experiential).
I’m not really sure what the difference between those two things even is, in terms of anticipated experience, so I’m not sure there’s any meaningful difference to be discussed.
For my own part, when a pattern of desire is common across multiple cultures and situations and individuals, I’m not inclined to treat it as primarily an emergent property of cultural, situational, or experiential influences.