Debating Pornography (Debating Ethics)

0
0

Since the sexual revolution of the 1960s, debates over pornography have raged, and the explosive spread in recent years of sexually explicit images across the Internet has only added more urgency to these disagreements. Politicians, judges, clergy, citizen activists, and academics have weighed in on the issues for decades, complicating notions about what precisely is at stake, and who stands to benefit or be harmed by pornography. This volume takes an unusual but radical approach by analyzing pornography philosophically. Philosophers Andrew Altman and Lori Watson recalibrate debates by viewing pornography from distinctly ethical platforms -- namely, does a person's right to produce and consume pornography supersede a person's right to protect herself from something often violent and deeply misogynistic? In a for-and-against format, Altman first argues that there is an individual right to create and view pornographic images, rooted in a basic right to sexual autonomy. Watson counteracts Altman's position by arguing that pornography inherently undermines women's equal status. Central to their disagreement is the question of whether pornography truly harms women enough to justify laws aimed at restricting the production and circulation of such material. Through this debate, the authors address key questions that have dogged both those who support and oppose pornography: What is pornography? What is the difference between the material widely perceived as objectionable and material that is merely erotic or suggestive? Do people have a right to sexual arousal? Does pornography, or some types of it, cause violence against women? How should rights be weighed against consequentialist considerations in deciding what laws and policies ought to be adopted?Bolstered by insights from philosophy and law, the two authors engage in a reasoned examination of questions that cannot be ignored by anyone who takes seriously the values of freedom and equality.

Page Count:
335

|

Publication Date:
2018-01-01

Philosophy

Social sciences

Social

Ethics

Sociology

Pornography

Woman Studies

Community Tags

Similar Books

Defensible Space; Crime Prevention Through Urban Design.
Philosopher at Large: An Intellectual Autobiography, 1902-1976
Intellect: Mind over Matter
Angel Dusted: A Family's Nightmare
QSI Henry Holt Production Demo: QSI EDI Title Testing
Little people in America: The social dimension of dwarfism
Watts and Woodstock: Identity and Culture in the United States and South Africa (CBS Computer Books)
Handbook of Social Science Methods (v. 3)
The Egalitarian city: Issues of rights, distribution, access, and power
Growing Up With Children: An Introduction to Working With Young Children
With charity for all: Welfare and society, ancient times to the present
Environment and population;: Problems and solutions
Women's worlds: From the new scholarship
Little People in America
A Stranger in My House: Jews and Arabs in the West Bank