Abstract

Like some ‘second wave’ feminists, Rousseau believes that modern sexual practices are not a manifestation of a newfound autonomy—rather, they reflect its systemic deprivation. Drawing on his critique of libertine culture in eighteenth century Paris, I show how even consensual sex may lead to a chronic deficit of recognition, coupled with psychological misery. To avoid such discontents, sexual freedom must include a satisfying sexual recognition. I articulate the conditions for such recognition as cultivated in Emile’s erotic education. Informed by amour-propre, Emile would seek a sexual partner who could recognize him as superior, yet, because Emile is also endowed with pity, he would understand such superiority in terms of uniqueness, independence and authentic expression, rather than as winning the transient favors of public taste. I propose that Rousseau’s recognitive account of sexual desire is applicable to current-day philosophical and public debates.