Capable of being desired or capable of desiring; relating to the appetitive or desiring part of human nature.
From Latin concupiscibilis, formed from concupiscere + -ibilis (capable of). This Scholastic philosophical term developed in medieval universities to categorize aspects of human psychology and moral capacity.
Medieval philosophers divided human desires into 'irascible' (angry/fighting desires) and 'concupiscible' (wanting/craving desires)—this technical term shows how carefully they mapped the landscape of human temptation and weakness.
Theological category from Aquinas: part of human soul prone to desire; gendered feminine in practice while universally human in theory—gap enabled misogynist ethics.
In philosophy/theology, specify 'capacity for appetite is human, not gendered' when using this term.
["prone to desire","appetitive capacity","desiring faculty"]
Feminist theology reclaims embodied desire as good; recognize concupiscible tradition erased women's agency in defining ethics of pleasure.
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