Editing Eroticism (section)

==French philosophy==
Modern French conceptions of eroticism can be traced to the [[Age of Enlightenment]],<ref>Coward, D.A., "Attitudes to Homosexuality in Eighteenth Century France", Journal of European Studies 10, pp. 236 ff. {{doi|10.1177/004724418001004001}}</ref> when "in the eighteenth century, dictionaries defined the erotic as that which concerned love...eroticism was the intrusion into the public sphere of something that was at base private".<ref>Hunt, "Introduction", in Hunt ed., ''Eroticism'' p. 3 and p. 5</ref> This theme of intrusion or transgression was taken up in the twentieth century by the French philosopher [[Georges Bataille]], who argued that eroticism performs a function of dissolving boundaries between human subjectivity and humanity, a transgression that dissolves the rational world but is always temporary,<ref>L'érotisme, by Georges Bataille, Paris (1957: UK publication 1962) {{ISBN|978-2-7073-0253-3}}</ref> as well as that, "Desire in eroticism is the desire that triumphs over the taboo. It presupposes man in conflict with himself".<ref>George Bataille, ''Eroticism'' (Penguin 2001) p. 256</ref> For Bataille, as well as many French theorists, "Eroticism, unlike simple sexual activity, is a psychological quest...eroticism is assenting to life even in death".<ref>Bataille, ''Eroticism'' p. 11</ref>