Summary and Analysis
Book VII:
Chapter V - Incontinence and Pathological Forms of Desire
Summary
Some things are not pleasant by nature, but can become pleasant as a result of physical disability, habit, or innate depravity. These include the items listed in the second category in the preceding chapter. Such forms of bestiality as cannibalism and such forms of morbidity as pederasty can be called incontinence in a qualified sense, but since these "pleasures" are subhuman and the term moral weakness refers only to human self-indulgence, they do not really belong in a discussion of incontinence. There is no question, however, that they are wicked.