Fun_People Archive
15 Nov
Non-Platonic kisses

Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 14:08:05 PST
To: Fun_People
Subject: Non-Platonic kisses

      Dear Doctor Rude,
 
      I think I understand what a "platonic kiss" is, but could you
      explain to me the differences between the following kisses?
 
             1. Aristotelian kiss
             2. Hegelian kiss
             3. Wittgensteinian kiss
             4. Godelian kiss
 
      Signed,
        Flummoxed in Florida
 
 
Dear Flummoxed,
 
That's a very good question; nowadays most sex education courses focus on
secondary and tertiary sources, so much so that few people really get
exposed to the classics in this field any more.  I'll try to make a brief
but clear summary of some of these important types of kisses:
 
 
Aristotelian kiss -- a kiss performed using techniques gained solely
     from theoretical speculation untainted by any experiential data
     by one who feels that the latter is irrelevant anyway.
 
Hegelian kiss -- a dialiptical technique in which the kiss incorporates
     its own antithikiss, forming a synthekiss.
 
Wittgensteinian kiss -- the important thing about this type of kiss is
     that it refers only to the symbol (our internal mental representation
     we associate with the experience of the kiss--which must necessarilly
     also be differentiated from the act itself for obvious reasons and
     which need not be by any means the same or even similar for the
     different people experiencing the act) rather than the act itself and,
     as such, one must be careful not to make unwarranted generalizations
     about the act itself or the experience thereof based merely on our
     manipulation of the symbology therefor.
 
Godelian kiss -- a kiss that takes an extraordinarilly long time, yet
     leaves you unable to decide whether you've been kissed or not.
 
 
Now, this is by no means an exhaustive list--here are just a few other
classic kisses:
 
 
Socratic kiss -- actually really a Platonic kiss, but it's claimed to be
     the Socratic technique so it'll sound more authoritative; however,
     compared to most strictly Platonic kisses, Socratic kisses wander
     around a lot more and cover more ground.  [Probably due to the state
     of "kiss feedback" frenzy resulting from the propensity to answer
     a kiss with a kiss.   -psl]
 
Kantian kiss -- a kiss that, eschewing inferior "phenomenal" contact, is
     performed entirely on the superior "noumenal" plane; though you don't
     actually feel it at all, you are, nonetheless, free to declare it
     the best kiss you've ever given or received.
 
Kafkaesque kiss -- a kiss that starts out feeling like it's about to
     transform you but ends up just bugging you.
 
Sartrean kiss -- a kiss that you worry yourself to death about even
     though it really doesn't matter anyway.
 
Russell-Whiteheadian kiss -- a formal kiss in which each lip and
     tongue movement is rigorously and completely defined, even
     though it ends up seeming incomplete somehow.
 
Hertzsprung-Russellian kiss -- Oh, Be A Fine Girl/Guy, Kiss Me.
 
Pythagorean kiss -- a kiss given by someone who has developed some new
     and wonderful techniques but refuses to use them on anyone for fear
     that others would find out about them and start using them.
 
Cartesian kiss -- A particularly well-planned and coordinated movement:
     "I think, therefore, I aim."  In general, a kiss does not count as
     Cartesian unless it is applied with enough force to remove all doubt
     that one has been kissed.  (cf. Polar kiss, a more well-rounded
     movement involving greater nose-to-nose contact, but colder
     overall.)
 
Heisenbergian kiss -- a hard-to-define kiss--the more it moves you, the
     less sure you are of where the kiss was; the more energy it has, the
     more trouble you have figuring out how long it lasted.  Extreme
     versions of this type of kiss are known as "virtual kisses" because
     the level of uncertainty is so high that you're not quite sure if
     you were kissed or not.  Virtual kisses have the advantage, however,
     that you need not have anyone else in the room with you to enjoy
     them.
 
Nietzscheian kiss -- "she/he who does not kiss you, makes your lust
     stronger."
 
Epimenidian kiss -- a kiss given by someone who does not kiss.
 
Grouchoic kiss -- a kiss given by someone who will only kiss those who would
     not kiss him or her.  [Recently repopularized as "the Woody." -psl]
 
Harpoic kiss -- shut up and kiss me.
 
Zenoian kiss -- your lips approach, closer and closer, but never
     actually touch.
 
Procrustean kiss -- well, suffice it to say that it is a technique
     that, once you've experienced it, you'll never forget it,
     especially when applied to areas of the anatomy other than the
     lips.
 
 
Doctor Rude
 
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The Unnatural Enquirer, (C) 1992 by Trygve Lode   (tlode@nyx.cs.du.edu)
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© 1993 Peter Langston