Sweet necessities - Food, sex, and Saint Augustine (Reconsiderations on the Augustinian depiction of contraceptive reproduction)

Central to Augustine's understanding of rightly ordered sexuality is his be lief that the pleasure of the act should not be separated from its good (pr ocreation). It is useful to observe that he reasons in a similar way about eating: that the pleasure of eating should not be separated from its good ( nourishment). Inadequacies in his understanding of the purpose of food and eating may be instructive when we think about inadequacies in his understan ding of sex. If there is more to food than he imagines, the same may be tru e of sex. Correcting for such inadequacies may also help correct for the (i nadvertent) way in which his understanding of the purpose of sex may seem t o legitimize technologies of assisted reproduction.