Query:

If you don't mind, is it coherent for there to be such a thing as an "unwanted desire"?  Or would that be an oxymoron?  Someone might say that to desire not to desire P means nothing more than not desiring P -- but that seems wrong.

Reply:

Yes, there can certainly be such a thing as an unwanted desire.  Philosophers sometimes speak of “second order” desires, desires about desires.  A person may desire to have a desire he does not have (God, help me to long for you more!  Help me to will my unpleasant neighbor’s true good!).  Or he may desire not to have a desire he does have (Father, help me not to have unchaste imaginations!  Help me not to want to punch my rival in the nose!) 

One large part of the spiritual life lies in stirring up the desires we do desire to have.  Another lies in dealing with desires we desire not to have.  In dealing with unwanted desires, there are two extremes.  At one extreme, a person may neglect to submit his desires to God for correction.  At the other extreme, he may worry so much about their need for correction that his obsessive worry inflames the disorder.

It is as though he thought, “I will not think about a hippopotamus!  I won’t!  I won’t!  Oh, no, there is the thought again!”