ON LOVE.

B iii

[contra]ry, it does not seem to be true regarding the love for those delights: because at the time that pleasures are acquired, they are loved, but not before, when they were lacking; for it seems that the taste of such delight enlivens the love for them.

PHI. It nonetheless incites the appetite and sharpens the desire and taste for them, so that love is enlivened; and you know that one does not crave or desire except for that which is lacking.
nothing is desired except what is lacking

SO. Now, how does this work? For we see that delectable things, when possessed, are not only loved but even craved; therefore, that which one has must paradoxically be lacking and not possessed.

PHI. It is indeed true that such things are loved and desired while being acquired, but not after they are entirely possessed; for once they are had, their company arrives, and the appetite and love for them are equally lost; because while they are being acquired, the lack does not cease until one reaches satiety.
where love and appetite are joined

Indeed, I say that with the first taste, the cognition original: "conoscimento"; the intellectual or sensory recognition of the object is strained by the proximity of the delectable thing, and with that, the appetite is more incited and love is enlivened. The cause is the feeling of privation original: "priuatione"; the state of being deprived of something necessary or desired; and with the presence and participation of the taste of the missing delight, it becomes stronger and more stinging. And when one tastes so much of such delights that one becomes satiated, the lack is completely removed, and with that, the appetite and love for such pleasure simultaneously vanish and cease, and it turns into loathing and dislike. Thus, appetite and love are joined to the lack of the delectable thing, and not to the acquisition of it.

SO. What you have said is enough for me on this point. But having stated how the useful referring to material wealth or utility and the delectable referring to sensory pleasures are similar and dissimilar in the rationale of loving and desiring—following the cause of their manifest similarity—the reason for the diversity or contrariety of the...

The vocabulary list below contains terms used in the philosophical argument regarding human desire.
love, appetite, delight, the delectable, satiety, privation, the useful