Based on Sigmund Freud's "On the Universal Tendency to Debasement in the Sphere of Love," Freud defines two important conceptual theories: The affectionate current and the sensual currents. The affectionate current is based on the affection someone receives as a child from their primary caregiver who was most likely the man's mother or sister. Freud says that during childhood we experience sexual instinct but they are more innocent then the sexual instincts of an adult so they manifest themselves as affection and become the affectionate current. The sensual current is different in that it develops during puberty and is based on overt sexual desires. It would be incestuous to express these new feelings toward the same person who the affectionate currents are directed toward, they are then directed toward someone with similar qualities but who is not related. Freud describes that physical impotence happens when the sensual current and the affectionate current do not come together like they should.
Statue of Sigmund Freud in London, with the Tavist...
Sigmund Freud Quote
Sigmund FreudHe means that the ultimate desire is still intact but during certain occasions he is unable to physically perform the sex act even though he wants to. What this means is that when they are separated a man can not feel affectionate and sensual toward the same woman. Lets say the woman is moral and therefore highly respected she's deemed through the affectionate current attached to his childhood and therefore becomes taboo because of the laws of incest. But the man still holds on to his sexual desires and needs to find an outlet for them. The end result is that in order to keep these sensual and subliminally forbidden feelings away from the one he respects and loves he finds women that he doesn't love to express them with. Ultimately, he can not become aroused by the woman that he...