On Getting Off: Sex and philosophy

Description

The curious reader's companion to sex. The curious reader's companion to sex. 'Wit, you know, is the unexpected copulation of ideas.' Samuel Johnson Why is screwing so funny? How should we think about our most shocking fantasies? What is so captivating about nudity? Inspired by philosophy, literature, and private life, Damon Young explores the paradoxes of the bedroom. On Getting Off will f**k with your mind. 'A beautiful piece of work. It's funny. It's human. It really does make you think about something that's either put on a pedestal or relegated to the toilet. A triumph.' -Krissy Kneen, author of Triptych 'Drawing on personal experience, literature, myth, art and philosophy, Young examines how the fragile tension crucial to sexual arousal is akin to a narrative, the way sex highlights the impossibility of knowing another's pleasure, and how nakedness offers not so much a revelation of someone's 'true self' as an invitation to learn more about that person.' -Fiona Capp, Sydney Morning Herald 'Young has a deftness with language that lays out complex ideas with such beautifully written digestibility that you feel osmotically clever when you read them.' - The Irish Times

Damon Young is a prize-winning philosopher and writer. He is the author or editor of twelve books, including The Art of Reading, How to Think About Exercise, Philosophy in the Garden, and Distraction. His works have been translated into eleven languages, and he has also written poetry, short fiction, and children's fiction. Young is an Associate in Philosophy at the University of Melbourne.