Reviews for The Nature of Sexual Desire

The receptive awareness that belongs to the nature of sexual desire according to James Giles belongs also to his phenomenological descriptions of that desire. Responsive both to what the founder of phenomenology calls "the things themselves" and to the extensive archive of scholarship on the subject, this book treats of the exquisite experience it studies so faithfully in a prose so elegant and direct that it has the makings of a classic destined to seduce generations of specialist and non-specialist readers.

This readable and well-conceived book represents a lucid, synoptic assessment of a key and central feature of our humanity. Its approach is both comprehensive and systematic. It is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students in the social and behavioral sciences as well as philosophy, women's studies, and anthropology. The reader will find here a rich and creative synthesis of both intrapsychic and interpersonal aspects of sexual attraction, arousal, and response. A thoughtful selection of primary literature and important critical analysis of the methodology of human sexuality research enhance an explicitly humanistic agenda.

A delightful examination of the way in which cross-cultural theorists, philosophers, and psychologists have viewed the nature of sexual desire. Although James Giles is not afraid to tackle difficult theoretical questions, his discussions are lightened by a sprinkling of charming quotes and genuine insights into human sexuality, gender, and the experience of love.

Elaine Hatfield, Professor of Psychology, University of Hawaii, Past president for the Society of Scientific Study of Sex, co-author (with Richard Rapson) of Love and Sex: Cross-Cultural Perspectives.

This thoroughly frank and ground-breaking work belongs in the libraries and workshops of all sex educators, therapists and church leaders--all who, in truth, may wish to raise the quality of human care and intimacy and, indeed, the spiritual consummation of sexual desire--"that peak moment 'that equals all of time'"--which I hope we all will discover in our lives.

The author supports his views and arguments with interesting examples and factual material, showing his knowledge of both Eastern and Western traditions of thought, and of such diverse sources as psychology, philosophy, anthropology, and biology.

[T]his book is highly recommendable for undergraduate students in psychology, anthropology, philosophy, communication studies, and women's studies, and an absolute "must-read" for all graduate students and researchers interested in sexuality and close relationships.

Reviews for No Self to be Found: The Search for Personal Identity

James Giles' work is a clear, well-informed investigation of the psychological subject in the analytic style. It aims to correct some misleading assumptions that have distorted discussion of personal identity by philosophers and psychologists for centuries.

Giles has a gift of being able to express in an accessible manner very complex and at times technical arguments. He provides one of the best summaries of the literature of self and identity that I have seen recently. He wages his counter-arguments and lodges his criticisms of the positions with skill and insight. This is a book well worth taking seriously, if only as a test of any argument that proposes to defend a notion of the self and a meaningful personal identity. This book would be useful in graduate seminars in philosophical psychology, and it would be accessible to advanced undergraduates.