Sexual Ethics Flashcards
Sexual behaviour may be seen as purely a private and personal matter. Discuss.
FOR the statement.
The contractarian view of sex argues that provided consent is present, there are no other ethical considerations that need to be satisfied. This would rule out actions considered abhorrent, such as paedophilia and rape, but would ensure freedom in other cases.
Mill’s principle on non-harm would also ensure that neither politicians nor philosophers need to consider sexual matters.
Existentialists argue that the mistake in religious philosophy such as Aquinas’ natural law is in assuming that all persons and acts have a purpose. When the idea of purpose is removed, it is possible to see sexual behaviour as purely free and personal choices.
Sexual behaviour may be seen as purely a private and personal matter. Discuss.
AGAINST the statement.
Sexual behaviour, like other areas of human life, affects people for better or worse. In the case of extramarital affairs, partners and children may be affected, hence it is not the case to say that there are no ethical concerns to discuss.
Ethical theories offer a response to the contractarian or minimal view, which tends to cheapen and reduce the importance of sex. Fletcher’s focus on love and Kant’s respect for persons are important challenges to modern thinking.
While there are gender inequalities as discussed above, there is a need to discuss ethical issues arising from the imbalance of power within sexual relationships.
Natural law is a helpful approach to sexual ethics. Discuss.
FOR the statement
In focusing on marriage and on reproduction, natural law avoids cheapening the sexual act, which is a consequence of some more liberal modern views.
The focus on purpose or telos is helpful provided it is disentangled from some of the more legalistic interpretations that the Church has placed on it. If one of the main purpuses of sex is unitive, then this can be a helpful moral principle to consider acts by.
Natural law may be right to link marriage and the production of children. There is some statistical evidence that suggests the children of married parents are more likely to flourish in education. It could be argued that a stable environment for raising children is an important contribution that natural law makes to this debate.
Natural law is a helpful approach to sexual ethics. Discuss.
AGAINST the statement
Natural law is derived from divine law and some of the primary precepts also rely on the idea of God. If God does not exist then it can be argued that there is no ultimate reason to follow the precepts on sexuality. The theologian Hugo Grotius, however, argues that natural law is built into the universe and would apply even in the absence of God.
The idea of telos is problematic for two reasons. Firstly, it assumes that persons have a telos and that this telos is specifically the things that Aquinas suggests. Secondly, there are assumptions about the telos of sexual acts - that they are generative and unitive. It could equally be argued that the telos of such acts is pleasure.
Natural law argues that these ideas are part of nature and are built in to us. However, while sexual urges may be natural, not everyone has heterosexual inclinations. Homosexuality is part of some people’s nature. Similarly, the theory commits the naturalistic fallacy in assuming that just because something is natural, it is automatically good.
Natural law’s focus on reproduction renders some sexual acts, such as sex between people who are infertile or elderly, as pointless.
Natural law, particularly when interpreted through Church teaching, is legalistic and has not moved with the times, particularly where technology exists to address some of the issues highlighted, such as reproductive technologies.
Situation ethics is a good approach to sexual ethics. Discuss.
FOR the statement.
Situation ethics is person-centred, which is exactly the right approach for issues around sexuality. It is important that people come before rules in this topic.
Situation ethics is flexible but avoids cheapening sex or allowing sex to be casual. This avoids the potential pitfall of other relativist theories such as utilitarinism, where pleasure becomes more important than the unitive aspects that are present in loving relationships.
Situation ethics enables decisions to be based on core religious principles yet still be flexible to the changing nature of society, particularly in terms of attitudes to cohabitation and homosexuality.
Situation ethics treats people as adults and gives them the responsibility to make decisions for themselves on how agape is best served. External authorities such as the Church are not required.
There has often been a lack of love and mercy in religious responses to sexual ethics. Situation ethics follows the example of Jesus, who refused to condemn the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11).
Situation ethics is a good approach to sexual ethics. Discuss.
AGAINST the statement.
Situation ethics overlooks the fact that there may well be absolutes in sexual ethics. Certainly from a religious perspective, the commandment ‘Do not commit adultery’ is clear and it is difficult to see how an exception can be made.
Following on from this, in attempting to base its key principle on the ideas of Jesus, situation ethics is guilty of selective interpretation of the Bible. Love is not the sole teaching of Jesus even if it is the most important. Jesus is very clear about issues such as divorce, for example.
It is difficult to know how far to take the idea of love in terms of measuring consequences. Should decisions about what is most loving include children who are affected, families who may disapprove of the relationship, etc?
While it may be good to some extent to place decision-making in the hands of the individual, this may prove too demanding for many people, who want to be given more guidance than the theory seems to provide.
There is a sense that the theory arrives at the idea of agape because of difficult cases such as that of Mrs Bergmeier. These cases are rare exceptions and it may be unwise to use them to make general rules.
Religious ideas should not continue to have an influence on sexual ethics. Discuss.
FOR the statement
Society has changed in its attitudes both to religion and to sexuality. Given that less than half the population believe in God, it seems strange that religious beliefs should dominate.
Mill’s non-harm principle and the requirement for consent seem to address most of the difficulties that arise in sexual ethics. There is no need for any extra principles from religion.
Some religious attitudes, particularly natural law with its narrow focus on reproduction, are not only outdated but also fail to understand the importance of sex.
Foucault argues that religious ethics have introduced the unhelpful ideas on normal and abnormal into this topic.
Religious ideas should not continue to have an influence on sexual ethics. Discuss.
AGAINST the statement
Religious ideas are a useful contrast to a modern culture that risks cheapening sex and approaching the topic with a consumer mindset rather than seeing the value of persons and relationships.
Historically, religious ideas have been enlightened when understood in their context. Jesus’ teaching on divorce does not distinguish between genders, and the teaching of Muhammad (PBUH) does much to challenge the culture of his time in terms of attitudes to women and sex.
Marriage is valued and there is statistical evidence that marriage has benefits in terms of overall wellbeing and life chances of any children produced compared to those who are not brought up within marriage.
Kantian ethics is a helpful approach to sexual ethics. Discuss.
FOR the statement.
Respect for persons is a useful feature of Kantian ethics; ensuring we treat people as persons and not as objects is a principle that it is hard to disagree with.
Kantian ethics achieves the rare combination of giving some clear rules while not relying on religion. The secular nature of Kantian ethics is particularly helpful in an age when people are less religious.
Kantian ethics is based on logic and rational principles. This is important in a topic such as this where emotion can cloud judgement.
Kantian ethics is a helpful approach to sexual ethics. Discuss.
AGAINST the statement.
The principle of universal law is an odd one to apply to sexual ethics. While Kant is right that the human race would die out if everyone only had homosexual sex, he is wrong in that not everyone desires this. It is perfectly possinle in a society such as ours, where less than one in ten people will have homsexual relationships.
Kant’s optimism about marriage may be misplaced. Over 40% of marriages end in divorce and feminist writers such as Simone de Beauvoir argue that the institution of marriage enslaves women and takes away their freedom.
Kant’s rationality is oddly out of place in thsi topic. Arguably, emotioms and passions are at the heart of this topic, and to suggest an ethical system that dismisses these seems to dismiss a key aspect of our humanity.
Utilitarianism is a helpful approach to sexual ethics. Discuss.
FOR the statement.
Utilitarianism is modern and progressive. Its views on topics such as homosexuality and cohabitation were ahead of their time and society has now caught up with the utilitarian ideas.
Similarly, it is a secular theory that recognises that the traditional way of thinking about some topics in sexual ethics is based on religion and needs to be replaced by a way of thinking that does not rely on religious standards.
Utilitarianism is flexible to the situation and has minimal rules. This is significant as it can be argued that sex is mostly a private and personal matter, which requires in Mill’s words a ‘minimal morality’. Yet utilitarianism is not a laissez-faire ethics and it does judge acts where others are harmed as wrong, for example, rape or forced prostitution.
Utilitarianism is a helpful approach to sexual ethics. Discuss.
AGAINST the statement.
Bentham’s utilitarianism focuses on the pleasure of the majority and, as its critics have famously observed, is a swine ethic. There is no reason why gang rape would count as wrong if Bentham’s ethics were applied. Admittedly this is less of an issue for Mill’s or Singer’s version of utilitarianism.
Basing decisions on pleasure is not a solid basis for ethical reasoning. Our emotions change; we may come to regret and see as painful an encounter that we considered pleasurable at the time. When our passions are involved, it is difficult for us to objectively consider pleasure and pain, and weigh consequences.
Mill recognises that one potential problem of utilitarianism is the ‘tyranny of the majority’ where minority views of what may constitute pleasure may be supressed. This could lead to either homophobic laws or the banning of religious criticism of homosexuality, depending on what the majority view may be.
Utilitarianism states that consequences that are often outside our control dictate whether something is right or wrong. This does not make sense. It seems odd to say that the same act - that of having an affair - is either good or bad depending on whether one’s spouse finds out.
