Sex, Drugs and Chocolate: The Science of Pleasure

Sex, Drugs and Chocolate: The Science of Pleasure
Paul Martin

Is pleasure selfish and are we selfish to pursue it, scientifically speaking?'I know the ways of pleasure, the sweet strains,The lullings and relishes of it' George HerbertThis is a book about the lengths people will go to nuzzle out some pleasure – and the scientific reasons that lie behind those impulses, written in an accessible and entertaining way.Paul Martin looks at changing attitudes to pleasure over the centuries, including religious and philosophical lawgiving on the subject, before moving on to the scientific hardwiring that supports all this human frenzy. He looks too at chemical pleasures, at our attempts to bottle the pleasure-giving principle for easy access and regular self-medication –- from caffeine to heroin, from tobacco to glue. Which brings us to addiction, and the darker side of pleasure's many moons - before coming back full circle to the therapeutic bliss of pleasure, its key role in an individual's health, and that least-promoted, most-undervalued but most satisfying daily pleasure of all – sweet sleep.

PAUL MARTIN

Sex, Drugs & Chocolate: The Science of Pleasure

Contents

Cover (#u056280b0-cd69-5c8e-945b-e2553c158fdd)

Title Page (#u1619ab14-3a57-5c79-921d-d2be19c765b9)

ONE The Pursuit of Pleasure (#u5a0871db-89ab-5b44-8975-048fdb845f94)

The heights of pleasure (#ulink_6e10419e-2524-59b6-8cc1-6909ccd26c7a)

Hedonism then and now (#ulink_8b0afe71-d53e-5e3f-a720-5c03dfd8cddf)

TWO What Is Pleasure For? (#u49adfd23-4698-5cd1-917d-df6760b001f6)

THREE Sex (#ufa5405fe-4f50-51e4-b1c0-784879c1a118)

Sexy beasts (#ulink_a157a847-d374-5533-8153-ed2cb566dfb8)

Pleasure, distilled (#ulink_e5a67a21-6775-5b4a-ac5e-381ded86eb83)

FOUR Drugs (#u446ba21c-c900-5859-9472-e7393a05431f)

How does it feel? (#ulink_dffda4de-e8e9-5607-9fca-0d6ccaf1ce53)

Recent history: the last few thousand years (#ulink_5a5a8951-0a53-511e-9436-69f942eb9840)

The seven sisters of sleep (#ulink_4373987e-16da-512a-81fa-c4cbcae749ad)

The playful mind? (#ulink_03bc6ac7-7739-5c80-bbd5-875f3f3c4eb4)

Harm (#ulink_8dd9df6d-a3a6-552e-936d-a3cee76aa31a)

FIVE And Chocolate (#u2be74776-77bd-582d-a073-507796c400a3)

Why do we like it? (#ulink_c708ecf1-dff2-5f57-b5cb-8335dc2388c9)

Where does it come from? (#ulink_2db4db72-d57a-5cb4-a163-56c53e8a078d)

Is it addictive? (#ulink_6c45cbdf-066c-53e1-a502-c6b605bb388b)

Is it good for you? (#litres_trial_promo)

The real thing (#litres_trial_promo)

SIX Pleasure and Desire (#litres_trial_promo)

Liking and wanting (#litres_trial_promo)

The machinery of pleasure and desire (#litres_trial_promo)

Bereft of pleasure (#litres_trial_promo)

SEVEN The Sensation-Seekers (#litres_trial_promo)

Extroverts and sensation-seekers (#litres_trial_promo)

The lord (#litres_trial_promo)

The squire (#litres_trial_promo)

The beast (#litres_trial_promo)

The star (#litres_trial_promo)

The jester (#litres_trial_promo)

The king (#litres_trial_promo)

The pearl (#litres_trial_promo)

EIGHT Boredom, Unhappiness and Pain (#litres_trial_promo)

A number of moderately interesting facts about boredom (#litres_trial_promo)

Happiness (#litres_trial_promo)

In praise of displeasure (#litres_trial_promo)

Pain (#litres_trial_promo)

You won’t always like what you want (#litres_trial_promo)

NINE Addiction (#litres_trial_promo)

An excess of desire (#litres_trial_promo)

Sex and shopping (#litres_trial_promo)

The machinery of addiction (#litres_trial_promo)

Why me? (#litres_trial_promo)