Ethical approaches to sexual ethics
- Created by: Ellen Hannah
- Created on: 16-06-14 15:48
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- Ethical approaches to Sexual ethics
- Situation ethics
- As it encourages acting out of agape, would only condone if just for enjoyment (Mill)
- Therefore supports homosexuality & contraception (Nicaragua) but not extra marital. Pre + abortion would be case-by-case
- Natural Law
- RC based on Aquinas teachings of telos therefore making NL & RC identical
- Purpose of sex is procreation. Anything else that doesn’t fulfil this purpose is unnatural & sin
- Aquinas’ approach also insists upon marriage according to C teachings
- Both of these criteria mean homosexuality, pre-marital & masturbation outlawed
- Same problems of ‘natural’ as CC + sex after menopause, wrong time of month etc. – Kant ‘ought implies can’
- Christian ethics
- Catholic priests historically not allowed to marry as seen to be married to Christ & Church
- Now marriage seen as linked to love. Jack Dominion - new definitions needed of expression of love & CC made mistake in emphasis of bio purpose. Argues ‘living in sin’ can meet same criteria
- Purpose marriage: fides, proles & sacramentum est. by NL & scripture – ‘unnatural’ place for kids
- Wasn’t case when OT was written - Abraham concubine & Hebrew law marriage as purchase. Reflection of sexism in OT, not uncommon for women to be stoned to death for adultery
- Feminists see this as enforcing patriarchal ideologies of women as submissive & stay in the home
- Protestants – moved from influencing promiscuity to a means of unifying a couple & therefore stops unwanted pregnancies being ‘agape’
- Catholic church – heart of CC is SOL, which goes against contraception & abortion leading to Nicaragua & Africa – contrast to SE. Believe it interferes w/ PP of reproduction but do allow rhythm method + 3 purposes of marriage. Based on Genesis when God told us to be fruitful & multiply.
- ‘you shall not lie w/ a man as with a women’ & ‘men committing shameless acts w/ men’
- CC – sex only for heterosexual marriage as part of God’s promise - OT shows only needed wife to be virgin as men dominate – ‘virgin surgery’. Value authority of bible, which teaches homosexuality wrong (feminist interp). No sin in thought only in act (telos).
- Kant
- Universal maxim seems to rule out contraception, extra-marital & homosexuality
- Not right to use people as means to an end e.g. lust/****. If consenting, treated as equals & doesn’t go against CI sex is right i.e. marriage, but also allows prostitution
- Good basis for ensuring protection rights of all those involved (business)
- Utilitarianism
- V. libertarian outlook allowing people to do whatever they like according to principles of contractariansim & harm principle
- Would look at case-by-case inc. affects of children, foetus no pain & regret of pre-marital
- Mill – higher pleasure of raising children over sex. H
- However, would allow contraception & abortion when having children would be too much pain.
- Would be tolerant of homosexuality etc. as emphasis liberty. However, if became norm would be damaging universal to population (China + wouldn’t it be better for edu, envi etc.?)
- However, would allow contraception & abortion when having children would be too much pain.
- Virtue ethics
- Seek to find how a person can become virtuous through sex. By dev sexual intimacy & investing in another person we’re becoming virtuous in love, companionship, trust etc.
- Golden mean of modesty, respect, partner as middle ground of celibacy & promiscuity – would see pre & extra as wrong + spitefulness contribution to divorce
- More tolerant of alt sexual activity due to self-dev through ideals of virtue - pre (extra?)
- Cultural relativism – pre-Christian idea that prostitution was sacred position arranged marriages, now massive leap in last 20 years of acceptability of premarital + cultural circumcision
- Feminists - oppressive virtues created & condition by men – especially sex ethics e.g. Hebrew law. NL is social construction & therefore not moral guide for ‘natural’ (is sexuality that central?)
- Situation ethics
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