Outline

Introduction

What is sexual ethics and why do we need it?

Part 1: Theory

Chapter 1: Sexual Ethics

Section 1: The Necessity of Sexual Ethics

  1. The Broad View: Atrocity and Sexual Crimes
  2. The Narrow View: Sex as Life Affirming

Section 2: The Foundations of Ethics

  1. Death as the Fundamental Impetus of Ethics
  2. The Right of Self-Interested Action

Section 3: Flourishing as the Goal of Ethics

  1. Virtue as a Means to Happiness
  2. Happiness: a Way of Living

Chapter 2: Emotions

Section 1: The Nature of Emotions

  1. Defining Emotions
  2. The Emotional Process
  3. Sense of Life

Section 2: Philosophy and Emotions

  1. Philosophy and Emotional Integration
  2. The Passionate Life

Chapter 3: Relationships and Love

Section 1: Different Kinds of Relationships

  1. Familial Love
  2. Kinds of Friendship
  3. Romantic Love

Section 2: Love and Romantic Relationships

  1. Relationships and Love
  2. The Bases of Intimate Relationships
  3. Sexual Attraction and Long-term Love
  4. The Purpose of Marriage

Chapter 4: Sexual Attraction and Fantasy

Section 1: Sexual Attraction

  1. Paradigms of Attraction
  2. The Delusion of Physical Attraction
  3. Robust Attraction
  4. Philosophy and Sexual Attraction

Section 2: Fantasy

  1. The Purpose of Fantasy
  2. Different Kinds of Fantasy
  3. Moral Considerations

Section 3: Masturbation

  1. Sexual Development and Fulfillment
  2. Sexual Self-Sufficiency

Chapter 5: Sexual Identities

Section 1: Possible Identities

  1. Heterosexuality
  2. Bisexuality
  3. Homosexuality
  4. Asexuality?

Section 2: Masculinity and Femininity

  1. Origin and Nature of Masculinity and Femininity
  2. Redefining Masculinity and Femininity
  3. The Actualization of Masculinity and Femininity

Section 3: The Categorization of Desire

  1. Orientation: Defined by Action or Desire?
  2. Fluid Orientations
  3. Natural Bisexuality

Chapter 6: Sexual Perfection

Section 1: Sex

  1. The Nature of Sex
  2. Sexual Pleasure

Section 2: Union

  1. Stages of Union
  2. The Nature of Union

Section 3: Human Completion through Sex

  1. Impetus for Perfection
  2. Sex as the Missing Piece of Complete Happiness

Part 2: Applications

Chapter 7: Erotic Decadence

Section 1: Perversion – Making Sex Decadent

  1. Principle of Decadence
  2. Perversions (Specific with Explanations)

Section 2: Fetishism – “False power”

  1. Unhealthy psychological fixation
  2. Fetishism is a specific form of perversion

Section 3: Sexual Violence

  1. Rape
  2. Molestation

Chapter 8: Reproductive Issues

Section 1: Abortion

  1. A Woman’s Right to her Body
  2. Entire Debate Revolves around Conceptions of Personhood

Section 2: Birth Control

  1. The Key to Unlocking Our Sexuality
  2. Hatred of Birth Control is Hatred of Sexual Pleasure

Section 3: Parental Responsibility

  1. The Decision to have Sex and the Responsibility for its Consequences
  2. Parental Responsibility and Reciprocity
  3. What obligations does a child owe a parent?

Chapter 9: Sex for Sale

Section 1: Pornography

  1. Pornography as fundamentally External Fantasy
  2. Moral Differences between Watching and Creating Porn
  3. The Many Benefits of Porn

Section 2: Prostitution

  1. Morality v. Legality of Prostitution
  2. What is Prostitution?  Sale, Rent, or Profession?

Section 3: Strip Clubs

  1. Interacting with Fantasy
  2. The Desire to See Nude Bodies and Shame

Chapter 10: Children and Sexuality

Section 1: The Sexual Child

  1. Children are Born Sexual and Should be Taught about Their Bodies
  2. “Protecting” Children through Ignorance is Folly

Section 2: Pedophilia v. Ephebophilia

  1. An Important, but Recently Neglected, Distinction
  2. Pedophilia: Desire for Pre-Pubescent Children
  3. Ephebophilia: Desire for Post-Pubescent, but not Yet of the Age of Consent, Young Adults

Section 3: Age of Consent

  1. Where, and How, to Draw the Line

Chapter 11: Orientation and Identity

Section 1: Homosexuality

  1. The Immorality of Homosexuality rests on Metaphysically Dubious Claims
  2. Homosexuality as a Natural Orientation

Section 2: Bisexuality

  1. The Natural Human Orientation
  2. The Fullest Experience of Our Sexuality

Section 3: Transsexualism and Transvestism

  1. Physiology v. Psychology and Moral Implications of This Distinction

Chapter 12: Relationship Issues

Section 1: Same-Sex Marriage

  1. What is Marriage? (Cf., Ch. 3)
  2. There is no Danger in allowing Same-Sex Marriage

Section 2: Swinging

  1. The Nature of Swinging
  2. Swinging as a Potential Optimal Solution for Some Couples

Section 3: Open Relationships and Polyamory

  1. The Nature of Open Relationships and Polyandry
  2. Open Relationships and Fear of Commitment and of Revealing Oneself

Section 4: Polyandry and Polygyny

  1. The Natures of Polyandry and Polygyny
  2. As long as its a Free Choice, it should be Legal

Section 5: Promiscuity

  1. Promiscuity: An Issue of Quantity or Quality?
  2. What Makes People Desire Casual Sex
  3. Promiscuity: Immoral, not because Sex is Evil, but Because it is too Good

Chapter 13: Faith, Mysticism, and Sex

Section 1: Virginity, Abstinence, and the Ethics of Denial

  1. Ignorance (Virginity) and Inaction (Abstinence) are no Sexual Ethic
  2. The Procreative Standard is Anachronistic
  3. Abstinence as the Most Spectacular Failure of Birth Control Ever Known

Section 2: Dualism and Its Implications

  1. Dualism Necessitates Hatred of the Body
  2. Dualism as the Source of Shame and Disgust
  3. An Alternative to Dualism

Section 3: Human Genital Mutilation

  1. The Human Body and its Proper Function as the Standard of Beauty
  2. Mutilation of the body as hatred of the body
  3. Male or Female Circumcision as Unequivocally Immoral

Chapter 14: Taboos

Section 1: The Nature of the Taboo

  1. What is taboo?  Where do Taboos Come From?
  2. Is the idea of “Taboo” a useful one for Sexual Ethics?

Section 2: Incest

  1. Different kinds of Incest have different Moral Implications
  2. The Primary Problem with Incest: a Violation of Familial Roles
  3. Sex Play between Young Children is not a Moral Issue.

Section 3: Bestiality

  1. Peter Singer: The Best Case for Bestiality
  2. Non-Agents, Reciprocity, and the Psychological Implications of Bestiality

Chapter 15: Kink

Section 1: Sodomy

  1. Historic Origins and Definitions
  2. The Case for Oral Sex
  3. The Case for Anal Sex

Section 2: Pegging

  1. What is Pegging and Why would One do it?
  2. The Implications for Orientation
  3. Pegging Simpliciter and Pegging qua Gender Play

Section 3: Fisting

  1. Fisting: What it is and What it isn’t.
  2. The Pursuit of Extreme Pleasure

Section 4: BDSM

  1. The Ethics of Power Play
  2. Bondage/Discipline
  3. Dominance/Submission
  4. Sadism/Masochism

Chapter 16: Public and Private

Section 1: Public Nudity and Nude Beaches

  1. What is the Function of Clothing?
  2. Is there Harm in Nudity?
  3. The Value of Privacy

Section 2: Exhibitionism

  1. The Desire to be Seen and Desired
  2. The Morality depends on the Intent and Execution
  3. Moral and Immoral Forms

Section 3: Voyeurism

  1. The Desire to Watch
  2. The Morality depends on the Intent and Execution
  3. Moral and Immoral Forms

Chapter 17: Obscenity and Legal Issues

Section 1: Obscenity

  1. Definitions and Historical Problems
  2. Obscenity v. Pornography v. Art v. Free Speech
  3. Is Obscenity Even a Valid Category?

Section 2: The Right “Not to be Offended”

  1. There is no such Right
  2. The Internal Contradiction of the Right Not to be Offended
  3. Freedom Necessitates that Some People will be Offended Sometimes

Section 3: The Age of Consent

  1. The Legal Problem of Setting a Hard Age
  2. How Should Age of Consent be Enforced?
  3. Should Exceptions be Made for Maturity or Proximity in Age?

Section 4: The Right to Privacy and Sexual Self-Determination

  1. The Bounds of Privacy.
  2. Privacy: Fundamental for Sexual Self-Determination
  3. Contra Laws Restricting the Sexuality of Full, and Freely Consenting, Adults.

Conclusion

Sex and Complete Happiness