You guess the writer is a philosophy graduate student. I agree. He is immersed in the bone gnawing examination of an idea which gnaws when there is no meat left on the bone.(
The street talk version is this I think. We are human beings. We are not heterosexual or homosexual. As humans we are subject to various inclinations especially in regards to our erotic attributes. If we act on those iinclinations
we set up a physiological psychological stimulus response, which as repeated becomes habitual.
I summarized it for my husband by saying, humans are male and female, designed for reproductive complementarity. Those are facts of nature. Our sex is part of our nature and essence. However, our various urges regarding the use of our bodies are NOT our nature and essence.
In analogy, our need for nutrition is part of our nature. However, our taste for waffles, or crickets is not our nature, merely “accidentals.” And eating disorders are also not our nature, but are distortions.