Dark Eros: The Imagination of Sadism [Paperback]

Thomas Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1998

The author of the National Bestsellers Care of the Soul, Soul Mates, and The Soul of Sex turns to the shadow side of loving and therapy: its cruelties, perversions, and appalling tortures.

In Dark Eros, Thomas Moore shines a new light on the dark fictions of the Marquis de Sade to learn what they teach about the horrors hidden in the human heart, revealing the poetic and imaginitive powers that lie within violence and sexual victimization. By returning to the paradox of ancient medicine—the cause of a disease is its very cure—Thomas Moore opens the way through sadism that affects family, education, love affairs, the work place and politics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In Dark Eros: The Imagination of Sadism, Thomas More turns to a shocking subject: the hidden values in the repulsively fascinating fiction s of the Marquis de Sade. Moore offers a fearlessly new reading of sexual sadism, as he exposes the psychological and imaginative implications of torture, violence, and victimization. Moore, whose eye is always on the soul, advocates a third way of dealing with life's inherent problems of power and tyranny - not moralistic repression, not idealist transformation, but rather than the ancient paradox that the cause of a disease is its cure. Imagination cures literalism, opening a way through the cruelties that affect family, education, love affairs, the work place, and politics. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 202 pages
• Publisher: Spring Publications; New Edition edition (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882143654
• ISBN-13: 978-0882143651
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #410,848 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thomas Moore is the author of the bestselling book Care of the Soul and fifteen other books on deepening spirituality and cultivating soul in every aspect of life. He has been a monk, a musician, a university professor, and a psychotherapist, and today he lectures widely on holistic medicine, spirituality, psychotherapy, and ecology. He lectures frequently in Ireland and has a special love of Irish culture. He has Ph. D. in religion from Syracuse University and has won several awards for his work, including an honorary doctorate from Lesley University and the Humanitarian Award from Einstein Medical School of Yeshiva University. He also writes fiction and music and often works with his wife, artist and yoga instructor, Hari Kirin. He writes regular columns for Resurgence and Spirituality & Health and has recently published A Life at Work and Writing in the Sand. He is a patron of Re-Vision, a London center of spirituality and counseling, and on the board of Turning Point, a bereavement counselors training program in Dublin, Ireland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Holy vs. Whole, March 19, 2007

By 

Robert D. Onsted (Philadelphia, PA.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Eros: The Imagination of Sadism (Paperback)

Mention the word "sadism" and the results it produces will vary from an embarrassed Victorian blush to righteous indignation that such things should exist at all, not to mention it being a topic for discussion among proper and civilized human beings. Yet to Thomas Moore, a former monk and Jungian analyst and writer, it is precisely this topic that needs to be explored mentally, even spiritually, in order to prevent it from erupting into anti-social, or even criminal acts in the flesh.

Examining the writings of the infamous Marquis de Sade, Moore delves into the healing role of de Sade that digs deeper than the surface appearance of de Sade as pornographer to find value in what is cursorily dismissed as naught but tasteless perversion. According to Moore's analysis of de Sade's writing, the virgin needs the libertine to complement her chastity, as much as he needs her pristine purity to define who he is.

Yet, a deeper understanding of Moore's treatise on de Sade reveals that wholeness is the object of the soul's journey, and that experiencing the self as holy--at the expense of being whole-- unjustly deprives the psyche of its completion. He believes that every human being should be in touch with his Sadean side-- at least mentally-- for human potential not explored is what cripples the soul. Just as there is no stick that has but one end, human potential and creativity must at least acknowledge, without necessarily favoring, the dark side of the psyche so that it's full complexity can be known and appreciated. For Moore, as well as for de Sade, the perverse side of the personna that is forbidden to manifest itself mentally becomes the powerful driving force for enactment in the psycho-socially mal-adjusted person.

It is perhaps society's denial of our own dark eros that enrages and offends most when we see it demonstrated in others, for that denial surely perverts any attempt at self-knowledge, and forces the soul to assume a posture of balance and completeness that is false,lame, and ultimately unhealthy. Moore hints that without personal aknowledgment of the darker depths of our psyches, as de Sade so blatantly illuminates, we cannot hope to soar to our greatest heights, for what we resist persists, and the chains of denial keep us tethered to terra firma instead of flying the limitless skies of our Divinity.

This book is not a quick read, nor is it for the judgmental or faint of heart. It requires time, and a certain willingness examine our own depths, not favoring the dark, forbidden aspects of our psyche, but rather admitting that a Sadean dark eros lies hale and hearty within us all, waiting to be revealed to honest introspection for spiritual growth through courage of heart.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, May 7, 2000

By 

Tim Warneka "Leadership Expert, Keynote Speak... (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Eros: The Imagination of Sadism (Paperback)

I found this book to be most intriguing. Not as well known as many of Moore's "sweeter" works, I believe that this book is beneficial reading for both clinicians and lay persons alike. Moore's premise is that De Sade serves as a guide to the darker side of humanity, and as such, needs to be listened to. I would highly recommend this book for any clinicians working with sexually aggressive behavior and/or sexual victimization.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Open debate for scientific progress, August 11, 2003

By 

Ricardo Medina Covarrubias (Mexico, DF Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Eros: The Imagination of Sadism (Paperback)

Moore provides a quick tour on Sade's perspective in a very objective and comprehensive tone. The end of the book is devoted to therapeutics: form sadistic behavior to Sadeian perspective.
You have to be familiar either with sadomasochism or Sade's work to take the most of the book, as it doesn't provide easy answers. Though, this is one of the most empathetic works I'd ever read. In a theme commonly catalogued and limited as a sexual perversion, the text enables honest, practical discussion.