Sexuality and the Arts: Implications for Existential Psychologists

Psychologists, including existential psychologists, have always taken an interest in sexuality and the arts, but rarely on the connection between them. This chapter identifies many of those psychologists who have explored this connection, as well as a few writers from the humanities who have shared this interest. It includes, in its purview, the study of aesthetics, especially what Darwin called “aesthetic selection,” which compliments natural selection in human evolution. The study of sexuality and the arts within the scope of existential psychology offers several paths of further exploration and mapping beyond the history outlined within this chapter. These routes of inquiry can include aesthetics, phenomenology, and intentionality, as potential ways forward for the current and next generation of researchers.