Sexual Ethics Flashcards
1
Q
Premarital sex
A
Sex before marriage
2
Q
Extramarital sex
A
Sex outside of marriage, where at least one party is married to someone else
3
Q
Contractarian
A
The idea that moral rules or norms are based on an implicit mutual agreement
4
Q
Histroicals attitudes to sex and sexuality
A
- premarital sex, extramarital sex and homosexuality are a falling short of God’s ideal
- UK has a Judeo-Christian ethical view
5
Q
Why have attitudes to sex and sexuality changed
A
- effective use of contraception has made premarital sex less risky
- 75% see no moral issue with premarital sex
- 68% do not consider homosexual relationships to be wrong
- 85% find extramarital sex always wrong
- increase in cohabitation (more likely to divorce if you cohabit)
6
Q
The non-harm principle
A
MILL
- rules are needed only in order to prevent people being harmed and to take action if harm takes place
- provided the people involved have given consent and no one is harmed then no further rules are needed
7
Q
Support of the non-harm principle
A
JOHN HARRIS
- sexual ethics as such is not needed, since issues as violence, abuse or paedophilia would be dealt with under other ethical debates
8
Q
Michel Foucault
A
Challenges religious thinking on sexual ethics
- categorises sexual behaviour in terms of normal and abnormal
- unhelpful way of seeing the world = should be rejected
9
Q
Feminist view on sexual ethics
A
- gender inequality disproportionately affects women by sexual discrimination
- MeToo movement highlighted this issue - sexual abuse, assault at work, revenge porn
- women are more judged if they have had several partners
10
Q
Applying natural law - Aquinas
A
- each person and each activity has a telos
- the primary precept of human beings is reproduction
- sexual acts without reproduction does not reach your telos - no masturbation, contraception, homosexual acts
- marriage is fundamentally important - premarital and extramarital rejected
11
Q
John finnis
A
Based on natural law theories
- certain things in life are basic goods of human flourishing eg reproduction, knowledge, work
- only in marriage that both friendship and reproduction can be combined
- homosexual sex is instrumental and harmful
12
Q
Fletcher’s view
A
- key to christian ethics is agape
- it applied to individual situations
- agape is the middle ground between legalism ad antinomianism
- premarital sex and homosexuality is not morally wrong as long as they are based on love
- extramarital sex can sometimes be supported depending on the circumstances
13
Q
Fletchers view on dangers of his view
A
- there is a danger of promiscuity
- people are ignoring the value of dignity of persons and are treating them as ‘love objects’
14
Q
Fletchers difficult cases surrounding extramarital sex
A
- Mrs Bergmeier
- patriotic prostitution
15
Q
Christianity and sexual ethics
A
- biblical material, Jesus says very little about sexuality
- Paul said that christians should remain celibate
- RC, equal weight to church teaching, natural law and biblical material
- liberal, value the bible but feel that there is a need to interpret and apply Paul’s teaching literally
- evangelical, may take the biblical teaching in a moral literal sense
16
Q
Kant - persons and marriage
A
- persons have desires but also rationality to make decisions regarding our desires
- main concern is that sexuality can reduce us purely to acting on desires
- marriage helps us to avoid degrading us as a person because the couple has freely and rationally chosen to enter into this contract
- sexual relationships are based on will and desire
17
Q
kant’s view on premarrital sex
A
opposes premarital sex
- it is not based on a mutual promise-making that is offered in marriage
- sex risks being based on animal instincts and lust
- especially the case around one night stands and casual encounters
18
Q
kants view on extramarital sex
A
oppose extramarital sex
- it breaks the promises made in marriage
- the promise breaking cannot be universalised
- it is impossible to engage in extramarital sex without treating at least one if not both parties as a means to an end
19
Q
Kant’s view on homosexuality
A
opposed to homosexuality
- sees it as a degradation of human nature based purely on desire
- it is not possible to treat other persons as an end
- it cannot be universalised so would lead to human race dying out
20
Q
modern Kantian views on homosexuality
A
DO NOT agree with Kant
- someone’s sexuality is part of their identity
- homosexual relationships should be permitted as this allows the persons involved to be treated ‘as an end’ rather than a means to an end
21
Q
neo-Kantian view
A
- suggest that Kant is too dependent on marriage
- it may be possible if both parties are in agreement in almost a ‘contract-based way’ (allowing premarital sex, one night stands, prostitution)
- Kant would strongly disagree with this
22
Q
Mill’s view
A
- sex is a lower pleasure= - non-harm principle - governments should not intervene or make law unless someone is harming someone else
- tolerant of various sexual practices as long as there is consent
23
Q
Bentham act utilitarianism
A
- case by case basis
- whatever brings the most pleasure is the right action
- pleasure is the key purpose of sex, reproduction is rejected
24
Q
peter singer/ modern utilitarianism
A
- questioned if ethical discussion was needed
- no unique moral issue in sexual ethics
- there are greater and more important moral questions that arise from driving a car eg effects on the environment and harm to others (SINGER)
25
Q
utilitarian view on premarital sex
A
- ordinarily have no issue
- better access to contraception prevents the negative consequences of sex
- strongly supported by Mill
26
Q
utilitarian view on extramarital sex
A
- may have reasons to oppose on the grounds that the pain and harm that it may cause outweighs any initial pleasure
- judged on a case-by-case basis
- Richard Taylor - passionate love is one of life’s greatest goods and that there is nothing wrong in having affairs
- BUT non-harm principle might lead to the opposite point that affairs cause more harm than good
27
Q
utilitarian view on homosexuality
A
- Bentham and Mill, there is no logical reason for the law to make homosexual acts a criminal offence
- Singer, reject the idea that homosexuality causes some people offence; people should be free to pursue the things that bring them pleasure or joy as long as no one else is harmed
28
Q
deontological approaches
A
- Kantianism
- Natural law
- EXTRA: finnis
29
Q
teleological approaches
A
- situation ethics
- utilitarianism
30
Q
Utilitarianism is helpful
A
- it is modern and progressive (society has now caught up with utilitarian view)
- it is a secular theory that notes that the traditional way of thinking based on religion needs to be replaced
- it is flexible to the situation
- has minimal rules
- sex is mostly personal and private so good to have minimal rules
- does not allow acts where others are harmed
31
Q
Utilitarianism is not helpful
A
- Bentham, the pleasure of majority which means that gang rape might not be counted as wrong
- basing decisions on pleasure is not a solid basis fro ethical reasoning as emotions change
- difficult to objectively consider pleasure and pain and weigh up the consequences
- ‘tyranny of the majority’ could lead to homophobic laws or the banning of religious criticism depending on what the view of the majority is
- consequences that are often outside of our control dictate whether something is wight or wrong - this does not make sense eg an affair is good or bad only if the other person finds out
32
Q
Kantian ethics is a helpful approach
A
- respect for the person is useful as it ensure we treat people as persons not objects
- gives clear rules and also does not rely on religion
- it is based on logic and rational principles, important where emotions can cloud judgements
33
Q
Kantian ethics is not a helpful approach
A
- universal law is hard to apply to sexual ethics, human race would die out if everyone is homosexual but is wrong that not everyone desires this
- optimism about marriage may be misplaced
- Kant’s rationality is oddly out of place, emotions and passion are at the heart of this topic and they should not be dismissed
- Simone de Beauvoir argues that the institution of marriage enslaves women and takes away their freedom
34
Q
Religious ideas should not continue to have an influence on sexual ethics
A
- society has changed its attitudes to both religion and sex, strange that religious beliefs should dominate
- non-harm principle and the requirement of consent addresses the most difficulties, there is no need for religious principles
- some religious attitudes are outdated and understand the importance of sex
35
Q
Foucault view on religion and sexual ethics
A
Religious ethics have introduced the unhelpful ideas of normal and abnormal into this topic
36
Q
Religious ideas should continue to have an influence on sexual ethics
A
- religious ideas are a useful contrast to a modern culture that risks cheapening sex
- religious ideas have been enlightened when understood in their context
- Jesus’ teaching on divorce does not distinguish between genders
- marriage is valued in religion and there is statistical evidence that there are benefits to overall wellbeing in marriage
37
Q
Situation ethics is a good approach
A
- it is person centred which is the right approach for issues around sexuality
- important that people come before rules
- it is flexible and avoids cheapening sex or allowing sex to be casual
- avoids pitfalls of other relativist theories
- enables decisions to be based on core religious principle yet is flexible to the changing nature of society
- treats people as adults and gives them the responsibility to make their own decisions
- there is often a lack of love in religious responses but this follows love
38
Q
Situation ethics is a poor approach
A
- it overlooks the fact that there may well be absolutes in sexual ethics
- it is hard to see how an exception can be made for some rules eg ‘Do not commit adultery’
- it is guilty of selective interpretation of the bible, love is not the sole teaching of Jesus
- it is difficult to know how far to take the idea of love in terms of measuring consequences
- giving the individual the decision may be too demanding (more guidance will be needed)
- Mrs Bergmeier/ exceptional cases are rare exception are may be unwise to make them general
39
Q
Natural law is helpful
A
- focuses on marriage and reproduction, it avoids cheapening acts
- focuses on telos which it is disentangled from some of the more legalistic interpretations that the Church has placed on it
- statistical evidence that the children of married parents are more likely to flourish
40
Q
Natural law is not helpful
A
- natural law is derived from divine law and rely heavily on God
- telos is problematic; assumes that persons have a telos and there is telos of sexual acts
- sexual urges may be natural but not everyone has heterosexual inclinations, homosexuality is part of human nature
- commits naturalistic fallacies
- it focuses on reproduction rendering sex between old and infertile pointless
- it is legalistic and does not move with the times
41
Q
Sexual behaviour is private and personal
A
- provided consent is given there is no other ethical considerations needed (rule out rape, paedophilia etc)
- non-harm would ensure neither politicians nor philosophers need to consider sexual matters
- natural law assumes that all persons and acts have a purpose, when this is removed sex is purely free and a personal choice
42
Q
Sexual behaviours are not just private and personal
A
- sexual behaviour affects people for better or worse
- extramarital affairs affects children and partners - there are ethical concerns to discuss
- ethical theories often help to avoid cheapening sex eg Kant and fletcher’s theories
- there are gender inequalities, there is a need to discuss ethical issues that arise from the imbalance of power in sexual relationships
