Philosophizing About Sex

Ancient Greek philosophers, medieval theologians, Enlightenment thinkers, and contemporary humanists alike have debated various aspects of human sexuality, including its purpose, permissibility, normalcy, and risk. Philosophizing About Sex provides a philosophical guide to those longstanding and important debates. Each chapter takes a general issue (freedom, privacy, objectification, etc.) and shows how ongoing public discussions of sexuality can be illuminated by careful philosophical investigation. Debates over "sexting," sexual assault, sexual orientation, sex education, prostitution, and so on involve larger questions about morality, law, science, and politics, and cannot be intelligently discussed in isolation from broader issues. By asking deceptively simple questions, this book shows how complex the personal and social aspects of human sexuality truly are.