The Phenomenology of Sex, Love, and Intimacy

The Phenomenology of Sex, Love, and Intimacy presents a phenomenological exploration of love as it manifests itself through sexual desires and intimate relationships. Setting up a unique dialogue between psychology and philosophy, Susi Ferrarello offers a perspective through which clinicians can inform their practice on diverse issues of human sexuality. Drawing on Husserl's phenomenology, Ferrarello's analysis of love spans a range of disciplines including psychology, theology, biology, epistemology, and axiology, as well as areas related to gender, consent, and political control. Combining Husserlian perspectives on ethics with a focus on lived-experience, this text will deepen therapists' understanding of love as the subject of interdisciplinary inquiry and enable them to locate questions of sexuality and intimacy within an academic framework. With key theoretical principles included to allow clinicians to think through and clarify their practice, this book will be a valuable tool for sex therapists, marriage and family therapists, and counselors, as well as psychology and philosophy students alike.

Susi Ferrarello is a professor at California State University and Saybrook University, teaching philosophy to graduate students of psychology. She holds a PhD in philosophy from Sorbonne and an MA in Human Rights and Political Science from the University of Bologna.

Introduction Chapter 1 -- Practical Intentionality and Gefühlsintentionalität Chapter 2 -- Sex with and without the ego Chapter 3 -- Perversions Chapter 4 -- Introduction to the Phenomenology of Philia Chapter 5 -- Forced intimacy Chapter 6 -- Jealousy Chapter 7 -- Agape Chapter 8 -- Sexual Normality and Intercorporeality