désirs

Désirs are affective states characterized by longing for a person, object, or outcome. They motivate actions, guide choices, and color anticipation. While they can be tied to needs, desires are not strictly necessary for survival and are influenced by experience and culture. Their strength can vary and they can be fulfilled, unsatisfied, or sublimated.

Etymology: from Latin desiderium, via Old French desir, the term entered modern French with senses of longing and wish. Désirs covers a spectrum from brief impulses to enduring ambitions.

In philosophy, desire is central to theories of action and ethics. Stoic thinkers urged mastery of desire; Spinoza framed desire as a fundamental force shaping human life. In contemporary debates, questions include how desire relates to reason, volition, and freedom.

In psychology and neuroscience, desires link to reward processing and dopaminergic signaling. They include physiological needs (hunger), instrumental goals (money, status), and intrinsic drives (curiosity). Desires can promote adaptive behavior or contribute to problems such as addiction; self-control and cognitive regulation influence action.

Desires are shaped by social context and culture and by media and norms. They raise ethical issues about autonomy and manipulation and are a common motif in literature and art as expressions of longing and the consequences of desire.