Asceticism The Discipline Of Desire

Asceticism is an intense negotiation of the self with its desires, usually taking the form of the attempt to repress or curtail sexual desire. Asceticism is often misunderstood as a radical response to the problem of obsessive desire. Excessive attachments to sex, food, and money are among the most common of these concerns?today we refer to these as addictions?both in the contemporary world and to those living in a pre-modern context. In this course, we will discuss the experiences of ascetic figures throughout history not as relics of history but as intelligible responses to the problem of obsessive desire common to all ages. We will examine case studies of ascetic practices from ancient and modern India, Southeast Asia, medieval China and Japan, and the ancient and medieval Christian worlds. The first part of the course will be devoted to understanding some of the most notable social science approaches to ascetic behavior in the field of religion while the second part of the course will be devoted to close readings of case studies in light of these theoretical approaches. Cross-cultural comparison and contrast will be stressed. In the final part of the course, we will turn to modern conceptions of asceticism, attempting to answer the question?does the ascetic response to obsessive desire make sense in the world we live in today?