ABSTRACT
The passions and the pursuit of happiness are thereby integral parts of what it means to be human, notions that came to be philosophically explored in the seventeenth century and understood more readily in the Enlightenment. This shift in thinking was a sedate change. It emphasised a gradual movement towards embracing the passions and what it meant to be human on earth (materialism) away from the Church’s ideal of an ascetic spiritual life in which feelings of the body were repressed in favour of chastity or celibacy. From the Reformation state power began to take over from that of the Church, as the state played a more active role in the subordination of people while working in cooperation with organised religion. Marriage plays a critical role in this subordination. From the Reformation, it is no longer a sacrament for Protestants, but it is of paramount importance and reinforces heterosexual sex.
