Abstract

This paper explores various contemporary philosophic accounts of sexual desire and compares them to some recent psychological investigations into the nature of sexual desire. A number of suggestions are made on the basis of this exploration. Most importantly, it is argued that though women and men differ with respect to sexual desire and arousal in some respects, sexual desire represents an existential need in all humans, a point typically missed in psychological accounts. Sexual desire understood in this way involves a longing by both men and women for an intimate connection with another person.