[“Holy Penitence, art thou my aim,
Or is it thou whom I pursue, lovely woman?”]
CONTENTS OF CHAPTER XXV
Great variation in the views held regarding sexual abstinence — Five groups — The apostles of absolute asceticism — Criticism of their views — View of duplex sexual morality — Its refutation — The unfounded doubt in the possibility of abstinence — Recommendation of relative temporary abstinence from the medical and moral standpoint — Relative abstinence as an ideal of civilization — Recognition of this ideal among the ancient Israelites — Wise prescriptions and utterances in the Bible and the Talmud — Misrepresentation of this idea by the notion of absolute asceticism — Reaction against the latter — Rules regarding the frequency of intercourse — Self-command as a principle of enjoyment — Abstinence before the first sexual intercourse — Sexual maturity and physical maturity — Sexual tension of the third decade of life — Erb’s experiences regarding the harmful consequences of abstinence — Lowenfeld’s reports — Comparison with the dangers of extra-conjugal sexual intercourse — Value of abstinence later in life — Influence upon intellectual activity — Higher civilizing value of the idea of abstinence.
CHAPTER XXV
There is no disputed question in respect of which the divergent views are so sharply opposed as they are regarding the importance, the value, and the consequences of sexual abstinence.
[The question has been recently discussed by O. Schreiber, in a paper entitled “Sexual Abstinence,” published in Medizinische Blätter, 1907, Nos. 25-27.]
I distinguish five groups of opinion:
1. The apostles of absolute asceticism during the whole of life (Tolstoi, Weininger, Norbert Grabowsky, Kurnig, etc.).