But the same feeling may become obscene if a
man, aware of higher aesthetic values, ignores art and enjoys the
picture merely as a representation of a nude figure. Here, too, the
seduction lies in a demoniacal element, namely in the destruction of the
aesthetic value. The destructive characteristic of the obscene wars
against all higher conceptions; it is the revenge of chaotic sex
deposed by a higher principle, and has the special charm of secret
wrong-doing.
I might go even further, and maintain that because modern love does not
admit pleasure as its foundation and content, and because the craving
for pleasure is deeply rooted in human nature, love favours to a high
degree the desire to reserve a sphere for pleasure distinct from
personal love. This region is the obscene, and one might prophesy that
it will grow in proportion as the principle of personal love acquires
dominion; for pleasure will always need an undisturbed retreat
untroubled by higher demands. This can only be found in the sphere of
the obscene in which the element of personality is entirely eliminated.
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