DIALOGUES BETWEEN PSYCHOANALYSIS AND RELIGIOSITY

CELIBACY AS A POSSIBILITY OF SUBLIMATION

Abstract

Celibacy divides opinions, agreeing or disagreeing with such a choice of life, the fact is that there are people who choose to live this way. In general terms, it consists of remaining a single person, without involvement in romantic and sexual relationships, directing oneself to other activities considered relevant to oneself. Generally, the experience of celibacy is linked to religions and their respective spiritualities, thus being an integral part of the cultural productions of human beings over time. Psychoanalysis and celibacy, at first, may seem mutually exclusive, since sexuality is the main theme of psychoanalytic studies, from Freud to the most contemporary ones. Popularly, the idea that sexuality is only linked to the sexual act has expanded. However, for psychoanalysis, it is worth mentioning that, by human sexuality, it is understood not only the sexual act, but the entire psychic life of the subject. Sublimation is the psychoanalytic concept that is responsible for encompassing human activities that, at first, seem not to be directly related to sexuality, such as cultural, artistic and religious productions, for example. This article dialogues between celibacy and psychoanalysis, especially as a possibility of sublimation, seeking an interlocution between what the human being attributes as sublime and sublimation, based on the concept of drive and its possible destinations, postulated by Freud, in addition to to avail of other important authors for psychoanalysis.