PRISM 2001/insides backup  10/2/01  4:01 PM  Page 86

V

IOLENCE AND

P

OWER IN

S

EXUAL

T

ABOO AND

T

RANSGRESSION

|  E

VAN

K

LUG

Evan Klug graduated last May from UW Eau Claire with a degree in philosophy.  He wrote this piece for

a Seminar in Eroticism in his final semester with us. In this critical paper, Klug contrasts Georges

Bataille's theory of sexual taboo to that of Michel Foucault. Both of these philosophers bring to the fore

the subjects of power relations and violence, especially concerning the erotic dimension of human

experience.  With careful reasoning, Klug privileges Foucault's position over Bataille's on the basis of

what he argues to be Foucault's more diversified and flexible interpretations of taboo and gender.  

Diane Moira Duncan

Assistant Professor of Philosophy

The existence and proliferation of taboos within the field of human sexuality presents a para 

dox wherein an entity unique for its internal and subjective focus, human sexuality, nevertheless gives

Violence and Power in Sexual Taboo and Transgression     Evan Klug

86