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perversion
In general, a perverse act is one that deviates
from what is regarded as normal or proper.
Typically perversion carries a pejorative tone—to
say that something is perverse is to at least suggest
that it is bad or wrong. This, though, need not be
the case. Various artistic and especially comedic
acts are deliberately abnormal—e.g., using a fish
as a sword or making a dress out of meat. In such
cases the artistic or comedic force comes precisely
from the perverse nature of the action. Thus in
calling such acts perverse, we might be merely
characterizing or even complimenting rather
than criticizing them.
Perversions, especially sexual perversions, are
often characterized as unnatural. This is to say that
the norm the perverse act flouts is in some sense a
norm of nature. Nature here might mean the natural
world, as opposed to the world of human creations,
but it need not. The nature in question
might instead refer to the nature or essence of the
thing in question. If something is partly defined as
the sort of thing it is by its function or purpose,
then that purpose is part of its nature. In this sense,
any use of the thing that runs counter to that purpose
or ignores it entirely would, in that sense, be
unnatural and perhaps perverse. For example, a
skillet is for cooking—this is its function, and it is
the sort of thing it is in virtue of this function.
Thus using my skillet to hammer nails runs
counter to the essential nature of the skillet. Thus
it is in some sense unnatural and perhaps perverse.
- Part of Speech: noun
- Synonym(s):
- Blossary:
- Industry/Domain: Philosophy
- Category: General philosophy
- Company:
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