Multiple Os

A matter of much debate in human sexuality literature and online communities is what an orgasm is and whether/how it can be divided into types. Some definitions focus on sensory components, while others focus on motor components, emission, or other phenomena.

The tables below detail the pros and cons of three prevailing methods of examining things called orgasm and breaking them into types. While there are several different other possibilities to explore (e.g., critical realism), I selected the following as they were most extreme and opposed. Hybrid approaches also exist. Other schools of thought usually fall somewhere in between these extremes: linguistics (postmodernism), perception (phenomenology), and neuroscience (eliminative materialism). Most people will use perception (phenomenology) approach with some knowledge of sexual response cycle parts from physiology.

Public Figures who Epitomize the Approaches

Eliminative Materialism:

• Me: Does not deny qualia as experiential heuristics that are learned through perception, but holds true that computational neuroscience of biological systems are determiners of any emergent categories. Seeks to eliminate from scientific discourse folk concepts that have no grounding in neurological truth. Denies the postmodernist ideas of relativity of truth for phenomena within biological systems. Values qualia for teaching and learning but notes that more nuance is provided through examining system biology and ecological causes.
• Nicole Prause: Studies orgasm purely through neuroscience and physiological measurement
• Masters & Johnson: Focused on direct physiological observation of sexual response cycle
• Kinsey: Statistical/taxonomic approach to studying orgasm patterns
• Solms: Bridges neuroscience with psychoanalytic theory, hence central-left position

Linguistic-Based:

• Lacan: Views orgasm through language and symbolism, sees it as tied to lack and desire. Positioned at linguistic vertex because he analyzes it primarily through symbolic/linguistic frameworks
• Kristeva: Studies orgasm as disruption of symbolic order, connecting body and language.
• Freud: Originally tried to find biological basis but ultimately analyzed orgasm through psychological/linguistic interpretation.

Qualia-Based (Right):

• Jenny Wade: Studies subjective experiences and altered states during orgasm
• Umit Sayin: Researches expanded sexual response and subjective experiences
• Annie Sprinkle: Focuses on lived experience and expanded “orgasmic” potential
• Reich: Combined biological and experiential approaches to “orgasmic” energy

Central:

• Deleuze & Guattari: They describe orgasm as a way to create a Body without Organs—a body freed from organized, hierarchical functions. Orgasm is seen as de-territorializing force that breaks down standard bodily organization
• Bataille: Sees orgasm as transgressive experience dissolving self, combining symbolic and experiential aspect
• Derrida: Analyzes orgasm through lens of différance and embodiment, which can entail qualia and language rather than pure symbolisms.
• Komisaruk & Whipple: Combine nuero-physiological research with attention to subjective experience and perception of sensation.