Skip to content →

Titillatio (Latin)

I have been spending a fair amount of time reading the first pass proofs of my forthcoming book. One paragraph I came across reminded me of Weiner et al.

Spinoza is not na?ve about pleasure; he knows that it is not an unmitigated good, and that it is best when it is balanced. He distinguishes pleasure from stimulation (Latin titillatio), a pleasure that is focused more on some parts of the body than others. Localized pleasure, he writes, can exert an obsessive power ?that can overcome other actions of the body, and may remain obstinately fixed therein, thus rendering it incapable of being affected in a variety of other ways: therefore it may be bad.?

Published in blog