SEX AND SEDUCTION: MALE AND FEMALE INTERACTION TODAY

USING JEAN PAUL BAUDRILLARDS CONCEPT OF SIMULACRA

By: Dan Christian Sabao
Proposal Defense, February 19, 2014, 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Aquinas University College of Arts, Sciences and Education Department
Aquinas University, Legazpi City

Recommendation of the Panel Members

Recommendation Item
1. Chapter 1, page 1 (a) the
title is out of context (b)
Revision of the Title

2. Chapter 1, Concentrate on
the topic on Seduction
3. Chapter
2,
Instead
of
presenting a relationship
between the Male and the
Female, present a more
postmodern form of idea
leading towards a new ethic

Actions taken
a) Title
has
been
resolved
by
revision
b) Revision of the
title is done. It is
revised into A
Postmodernist
Reading
of
Seduction through
Baudrillards
Simulacra Towards
a
Concept
of
Ethics
Title is revised so
as to conform to
the
recommendation
The whole thesis
is revised so as to
conform to the
recommendation

in the view of Fixation and

Ethics as Aesthetics
4. The Format of the Thesis
must
be
changed
into
Turabian Chicago

Done

Conform:

Jordan Averilla
Scribe
Prof. Alvin Sario
Panel

Silvino Balasta Jr.

Adviser
Alexander Clyde Antiquia
Panel

Gerry Bajaro
Chairman

A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction through Baudrillards

Simulacra towards a Concept of Ethics

A Thesis
Presented To The
College Of Arts, Sciences Education
Aquinas University of Legazpi

In Partial Fulfillment Of
The Requirements for the Degree Of
Bachelor of Arts, Major in Philosophy

By
DAN CHRISTIAN SABAO

Recommendation for Oral Defense

This thesis is entitled, A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction

through Baudrillards Simulacra towards a Concept of

Ethics, prepared and presented by Mr. DAN CHRISTIAN SABAO
as recommended in order to achieve the title of Bachelor of Arts
in Philosophy which is now presented to the panel members for
consideration.

SILVINO BALASTA JR. MPR

Adviser

Panel Members
This Thesis which is entitled, A Postmodernist Reading of

Seduction through Baudrillards Simulacra towards a

Concept of Ethics, prepared and presented by Mr. DAN
CHRISTIAN SABAO as recommended in order to achieve the title
of Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy which is now presented to the
panelists for examination.

President
Member

Member

Testimony of Approval
This thesis is entitled, A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction

through Baudrillards Simulacra towards a Concept of

Ethics, prepared and presented by Mr. DAN CHRISTIAN SABAO,
as a recommendation to be worthy to receive the title of Bachelor
of Arts in Philosophy.

SILVINO BALASTA JR. MPR

Adviser

MARYTINA RAQUEL R. BONGANAY, MOS

Dean

CHAPTER 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING
Introduction
Since the dawn of man, Sex had been a part of its culture,
social life and lifestyle. Sex had undergone numerous criticisms from
philosophical and religious ideologies. It has also made what we see today
in our postmodern world: It basically populated the whole world, it
affected the media and arts, it gave rise to Birth Control and it changed
how people interact with each other. What leads to sex? Seduction enters
the scene. In our history, women apply decorations to their body or wear
clothes that attract men which would lead eventually if it permits, to sex.
People now use tools in which they can seduce other people for sex. Not
all of them are aware that they seduce other people by the way they wear
their clothes, take their pictures, move, look or even talk. Women are
generally the individuals who seduce and on the other hand, men crave
for sex. When someone sees or feels this seduction, they are attracted
and their sexual urges are stimulated. There are many examples in which
people are lead to sex; the present era doesnt see anymore the sanctity
of the subject as having been said by the traditional way. Marriage has
been modified so as to satisfy the urges of the human emotion: there are
now homosexual marriages, marriage between lesbian people or at worst,

no marriage at all. Marriage is not needed anymore because the concept

of sex no longer revolves around the conception of a family or love; it now
revolves on the concept of desire to satisfy the lust for sex only. They
dont care if what they do is bad or good, the important thing is that we
are satisfied by the sexual stimulations that we feel.
It is mentioned that the people of the postmodern dont really
care if what they do is good or bad, that does not mean that ethics is
gone. What we have believed as the ethics of the past is now different
due to the present condition of the postmodern that is characterized by
the arising of the different models of a real without origin or reality.
These different models are the representations of the true reality, but
these models I can say are corrupt copies of the real one and these
models are what we see in the present postmodern era. We live each day
encountering these models and it affects how we see reality today, when
this happens, we look at the world and each other a whole lot more
differently in the past. The dawn of the human thinking already did know
the things that they must do. Instinct as may say provided them the
answer on how they must live their lives here in this world. They already
distinguished what is good and what is bad starting on the conception of
deities of good and bad. They already have known if the actions that they
do and see are good or bad. This is what we call, a conception of ethics.
In our everyday lives we see things that make us interpret the
world around us, leading to what we believe must be the truth. This

observation however also teaches us to communicate with other people,

through this, we have relationships. These relationships further lead to
observations that would make us wonder what is good or bad. Through
these observations and experiences, we have a conception of ethical
concept. Morality is also an issue today. The present culture of the new
fashion and look of individuals today go far beyond the traditional
modesty that was practiced in the past. In this connection, many of
todays people are lead to be convinced by what they see as beautiful and
admiring as evidence that it is the truth or reality. In other words, they are
seduced by this new trend and culture so as to believe that what they see
as aesthetically alluring as good and true.
We are now in the postmodern era where traditional concepts
are snubbed due to the lack of interest on the conservative philosophy.
The dawn of technology and scientific discovery sparked a different
lifestyle where people no longer believe in the traditional ideas of the old;
new ideas began to arise and new principles come into existence. The
people of this era simply dont care. The postmodern world offers a wide
range of scenarios which would show how principles are made to affect
how the people of the postmodern era interact in a world filled with
technology, social network, television, media and trends. Unlike in the
past, this interaction is affected by these concepts which change the
perception of the people of this era.

The postmodern period is filled with things that blur reality.

People generally accept what they see today as reality even if it is not
really the true reality. It affects the way they feel, understand and
perceive things and situations in their everyday lives. All things in this era
are just representations of the true reality so as to people of the
postmodern are lead to believe that these representations are really true.
The mode of the postmodern alters the true essence of the thing
represented thus people are to think that it is the way it is. This condition
of the era lead to a conception of new principles towards what is good or
bad thus would lead to misleading principles that let people wander away
from the real truth.
In this connection, we would like to see if these appearances
we find in the postmodern era affect the ethical concepts of todays
culture and philosophy.

Because of the present condition of the

postmodern, different ideas of ethical concepts have arisen and with this
reality, we would like to know also if these ethical concepts are acceptable
as good and moral even if it is affected by the appearances which lead
people if they are not aware, to unethical concepts which can affect the
future of the human race. With the postmodernist era at hand and
appearances which seduce people to believe in the aesthetically alluring
as good and true, I would like to read through the present era so as to
lead towards a new concept of ethics which would, I hope, will enlighten
the people of this era and make the future of mankind ethically justifiable.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

For many of the people of this time, they dont usually see
any problems in the postmodern concepts. The new trends usually imply a
positive ideology in the minds of individual of the postmodern time.
The problem here is that the true reality is not seen. They see
appearances that simulate the true reality. In connection with this, this
study wants to show the following problems so that the people of this
time may realize and see the true reality and how they are victims of
illusions and appearances leading to a conception of a new ethical
concept, we ask thus:
1. What is seduction?
2. How does a simulacrum fixate someone so as to seduce
an individual into believing that it was the true reality?
3. How does this simulacrum lead into a new conception of an
ethical concept?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The postmodern period faces many problems regarding
modesty that lead to unwanted actions like rape and pornography. Early
pregnancies are more prevalent today and it affects how a family must
suppose to start in todays capitalist state. It will explain why this world is
riddled by inventions and ideologies that make the human body more

attractive to the opposite sex. The human person will realize that they do
not perceive realities but just appearances: appearances that are not
really the truth but just simulations of the real truth. Social media is
famous today. It created a connection which connected the whole world
and made conversations with people half way around the world just a
click away. People can now show what they do, what they want and what
they have. The internet has created a whole new world of its own,
creating a world of appearances that deceive the human person into
believing that it is reality. With Social Media, seduction is just a post
away in facebook and a tweet away in twitter. Seduction stimulates
Sexual urges that makes it easy for advertisements to sell what they want
to sell. In connection with this, this study will make us aware of the
dangers of Social media and Television. It advocates appearances which
make us neglect rationality and make way for things that stimulate the
senses. Female discrimination is also an issue today. The use of seduction
as a tool to make money and to entertain men lowers the dignity of
women. It also endangers the lives of millions of children to rape, incest
and early pregnancies; soon-to-be-born children are in danger of abortion.
This study will make us aware that most of these sensualities can deceive
and bring chaos to morality and the meaning of the family. It will make
people think and remember the sanctity of marriage and procreation of
children.

It was aforementioned that that this paper is made to

conceive of a new ethical concept. This ethical concept can be the basis
of living an ethical life in the postmodern period, a period riddled by so
many irregularities and arguments that cant be answered by simple
debate. The old traditionalist concept of ethics is in a way not anymore
very relevant to be applied in this kind of times where people no longer
care for the principles of the past because it cant meet what they desire
and what they want to do. It is the goal of this study to sift on the pages
of the postmodern story so as to help the people of this time to achieve a
peaceful ethical life where their desires are met, without any ethical
discrepancy whatsoever.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

This study will present how seduction in all its forms in todays
postmodern setting. It will not be limited to the traditional male and
female gender but I will extend the discussion into the realities of the
postmodern where homosexuals are legalized, where dogs can be part of
the family, where computers and fetishes are considered as legitimate
individuals who can give all of us the satisfaction of the sexual through
seduction. The study will use the principle and idea of Simulacra
discussed before by Jean Paul Baudrillard to describe the postmodern
world of his time and the future. It will discuss sex in its pure form: sex
and its pleasure, sex and the family, sex and money, sex and society and

sex and morality. It will show how sex operates today in the postmodern
world and how it is used in the present time. In this connection, the scope
of this study is all about seduction, sex, the postmodern concept of the
simulacrum and most importantly, a conception of a new ethical concept.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
a. The Postmodern Period
This

is

Postmodernism is a

period

where

postmodernism

is

relevant.

period of slackening. It is a period in which, in the

modern, puts forward the

unpresentable in presentation itself . It

would plainly mean that this world of

the

postmodern

where all are representations of the true reality and

just appearances; Simulacra, it is a term in

is

period

all we see are all

which

Jean

Paul

Baudrillard calls a simulation. A simulation is a representation

a real object. It

may

exhibit

represents but

lacks the exact

an

exact

appearance

with

what

of
it

truth in what it represents.

b. Seduction
Seduction is a way to attract someone. Philosophically, it is
that which extracts meaning from discourse and detracts it from its
truth. When someone seduces, he or she uses appearances to attract
someone for a specific purpose.
of the one who seduces.

That appearance is not the true reality

c. Sex
Sex is a universal concept. It generally pertains to the
reproductive capabilities of human beings as conformed to its
genitalia. Sex can mean something like gender, sexual intercourse,
human reproduction or biology.
d. Ethics

Endnotes
Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings.
United Kingdom: Manchester University Press, p 167.
Jean Francois Lyotard, . The Postmodern Condition. Manchester
University Press. Appendix, p 1.
Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings.
United Kingdom: Manchester University Press, p 149.

CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
I.
Jean Paul Baudrillard
a. Biography
Jean Paul Baudrillard was born in Reims, North Eastern France
on July 27 1929. His parents were Civil Servants. During his High
School Studies in Reims, he encountered pataphysics which was
said to be crucial in developing his later thought. He studied
German Language and Literature and became a teacher. While
teaching, he began to publish reviews and translations of the works
of several authors including Karl Marx. During this time as a
teacher, he begun to transfer to sociology where he completed his
thesis the system of objects where he ended also teaching
sociology.
He traveled also to the US and Japan. While in Japan, He was
given

his

first

photographer.

camera

which

eventually

made

him

into

He then transferred to the University of Paris where he taught

until the end of his career. He received a wide audience and referred
him as an intellectual celebrity. He died on March 6, 2007 at the age
of 77.
b. Philosophy
He lived in the time where postmodernism is actually
relevant.

He

developed

Philosophy

where

he

developed

fascinating and perplexing aspects of advanced industrial industry

(Mark Poster, 2003). The developing advanced media has made him
aware of the new language being used by the society in order to
communicate with each other and it differs from both to face-toface symbolic exchange and print
He developed the concept of the Hyper Real, in which all
things are just represented by signs and are just simulations of the
real thing; but before that, he was a Marxist as plainly shown in his
writings. Gradually, he abandoned Marxism and showed signs that
go along Foucault and Derrida.
He spoke about that the new culture of the postmodern period
has provided the world with time-space distancing new form of
communication; that the old way of communicating with print and
face-to-face conversation is now at cease. The new technology of
mass media and the television made him think about the principle
of film in which the things that are shown on film are just
simulations of what is real and are just appearances in case of

advertisements that want to sell their products by exploiting these

appearances for the people to believe and buy these products.
He said that this world is now on a culture where traditional
metaphysical assumptions cannot penetrate the new trends of the
postmodern. Instead of the old metaphysical assumptions, the
postmodern era is rooted on consumption where all the people of
this time are just concentrated on buying and selling things; they
think that their lives are just that way. He said that Consumption
had become the chief basis of the social order which would mean
that for the social order to have order, the people must embrace
consumerism in order to give harmony to this order.
He envisioned this world as a world filled with signs
misunderstood by people to be the true reality. In this idea revolved
the essence of his philosophy in which he related the presence of
signs to politics, economy, culture, Sex and Seduction; the world
that is filled with charms and appearances that seduce and use the
pleasure attributed to sex to produce appearances that deceive and
eventually attract the one who is being seduced to feast on this
pleasure without thinking of the consequences.
He was fascinated by the truth and wants us to see it in its
real form thus he was very strict about his concept of the hyper real
so that we may see clearly what is in between these signs and
understand them in the most critical way.
c. Relevance
His Concept of the Hyper Real is an exact description of the
postmodern era. Almost everything in this time is not the exact

reality as it is. All is characterized by appearances that blur the true

identity of the one which is represented. The industrial age has
pushed the people of the postmodern era to leave the difficult life
without machines; pushed the people to leave the old ways of
communication and travel. This time is filled with new inventions
that make life easier. This easy life has rendered and paved the way
to the period of slackening in which people would rather choose the
easy way than the hard way. It would follow that if the people like
the easy way, they would also follow the pleasurable way. The old
way of attaining pleasure is boring to the people of the postmodern
and with the help of new trends in technology and fashion; they
made sex more pleasurable and seduction more exciting. In
connection with this, his philosophy makes us see these realities
that are concealed between these technological advancements.
Advertisements seduce us to buy their products and these
advertisements have hyper real characteristics. The Major relevance
of his philosophy is that it is now happening today in a major
perspective and we, the people of this time are the constituents of
these realities; these appearances make us victims of illusion that
would lead to irrationality and contradiction to our Human Nature.
d. Concepts
His ideas revolved around his concepts of Hyper reality. This
hyper reality is a concept in which the world is filled only with selfreferential signs. He developed an idea on illusions which he called

simulacra or in plain language simulations. He argued that we

lived in a world where we are living in a world which things are just
representation and simulations of the true reality.
He also developed a philosophy on seduction in where he said
that Seduction is that which extracts meaning from discourse and
detracts it from its truth. It means that it represents someone or
something and it blurs the true reality of that someone or
something. The seducer changes the way the reality must look like
to
II.

seduce

someone

into

believing

that

the

appearance

representation that is seen is indeed the true reality.

On Seduction

III.
IV.
V.
VI.

Simulacra and Simulations

The Masses: Implosion of the Social in the Media
Sexual Ethics
The Postmodern Condition

or

Conceptual framework

Chapter 3
Methodology
The first agenda of this study is to present the concept of
seduction in todays postmodernist setting. To present this concept, I have
to expose and open the idea of postmodernism so as to pick up the
concepts of sex and seduction to thoroughly study the concept which
would lead to my own ideology of how seduction affects the people of this
time in which it is now, postmodern. . It will make a blueprint of todays
postmodern condition by looking on the raw evidences of todays modern
culture and ideologies. The second agenda of this study is to present the
concept of simulacrum which is Jean Paul Baudrillards concept. The study
would show on how this concept affects how seduction behaves in the
postmodernist setting. Using his concept of the simulacrum and after

understanding its true aim and meaning, it is very relevant to see it in the
perspective to what is happening today in the postmodern period. The
third and most important agenda is how, on these presentations of these
two concepts, we can arrive on a new concept of ethics. The presentations
of the concepts are not just in the light of the related literature but by
these related literature and studies, I will be inspired to present a new
ideology in which I would arrive on a new concept of ethics so as to apply
this new concept on the postmodern condition to give betterment to the
present ethical situation of the time. Thus, simply the method of this
study is first to present and understand; out of this presentation and
understanding create a new concept to apply it to the specific concept
aforementioned.