Sexual Ethics

Key Words  - 

Natural Moral Law Situation Ethics Utilitarianism Virtue Ethics Kantian Ethics Sexual Ethics Pre-Marital Sex Extra-Marital Sex Homosexuality

Key Scholars

P Vardy (1945-present) , J Dominian. (1935- 2019)

OTHER

Aristotle (384BC – 322BC) , St. Thomas Aquinas (1225CE – 1274CE) , Joseph Fletcher (1905CE – 1991CE) , Immanuel Kant (1724CE – 1804CE) , Jeremy Bentham (1748CE – 1832CE)

Key Texts

The Puzzle of Sex   P Vardy (1945-present)

Let's Make Love: The Meaning of Sexual Intercourse  and Being Jack Dominion- Reflections on Marriage, Sex and Love J Dominian. (1935- 2019)

OTHER 

Applied Ethics by Peter Singer 

A Companion to Applied Ethics by R.G. Frey

Situation Ethics: The New Morality by Joseph Fletcher

Ethics in a permissive society  Rev. William Barclay

The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis

Context

Sex has been viewed in a variety of ways through history

• Ancient Greek philosophers who saw sex as weakening the mind

• St. Paul’s ideas about celibacy in the Bible to 20th Century views about sex as a private matter between two individuals

• Approaches to sexual ethics can be divided into absolutist approaches and relativist approaches

Sexual Ethics: ABSOLUTE ETHICS 

Kantian Ethics & Sexual Ethics

Kantian Ethics views sex before marriage as being more about lust than love and so would argue this cannot be universalised as it would promote people being unfaithful hedonists

• Furthermore, Kant sees using sex for pleasure as treating other people as a means to an end which is also wrong and so again is against sex before marriage

• Kant was also against extra-marital sex for the same reasons

• With regards to homosexuality, Kantian Ethics can argue both sides. On the one hand, homosexuality cannot be universalised as this would mean no one reproduced but on the other hand, focusing solely on reproduction seems to treat people as a means to an end (treat people as baby-making machines)

Natural Moral Law & Sexual Ethics

St. Aquinas’ view was less extreme then St. Augustine’s and argued enjoying sex was allowed but only within a marriage

• He argued that sex fulfilled human purpose and the primary precept of ‘reproduction’ but that it must take place within a marriage because marriage is the best place to raise children and another primary precept is to ‘educate off-spring’

• Natural Law also views extra-marital sex as morally wrong because it focuses on the pleasure part of sex and not the reproduction purpose part

• In regards to homosexuality, Natural Law is against it because homosexual couples cannot reproduce which is the purpose of sex

Roman Catholicism

• Based on Natural Law and the primary precepts of preserving life, procreation and an ordered society.

• Purpose of marriage is procreation and because society must be ordered, anything threatening the institution of family and marriage is wrong.

• Sex is moral only within marriage and for reproduction.

• Pre-marital, extra-marital sex, masturbation, homosexuality, contraception and abortion are immoral.

• There are three purposes for marriage: 

• Faithfulness (rides),

• Reproduction (proles)

• Two people becoming one through divine union (sacramentum).

Sexual acts which go against one of these is wrong – so divorce is immoral because the union is sacred and cannot be broken.

Sexual Ethics: Relativist Approaches

Libertarian approaches

• We now live in a libertarian and tolerant society. 

• Secular attitudes to sex emphasis a contractarian ethic whereby sex is morally permissible if there is mutual agreement or consent.

• Sex is not linked with marriage or reproduction. Human freedom and autonomy are the most important principles and values.

• Comes from John Stuart Mill's harm principle: an action is morally acceptable if no harm is done to either party or other third parties. 

• 'Harm' here means physical harm or harm to someone's interest. Mill argues freedom of choice is paramount regardless of higher or lower pleasures. 

• Through what Mill classes as experiments in living, we can determine what actions are better for us.

• Human can only flourish if they have the freedom to pursue their own good in their own way without interference from society or oppressive religious institutions.

• Provided that no harm is done to either party or to any third party, there is no restriction on the kind of sexual activity engaged in.

• This approach celebrates the sexual liberation of the 1960s.

Evaluation

• Struggles to make a clear distinction between harm and offence. Any consensual act is morally acceptable, but what about pornography or prostitution? These are apparently consensual and may not cause direct harm, but many see them as degrading and there is concern over indirect harms, for example the effect of pornography on young men's attitudes to sex.

• Secular thinking is not necessarily libertarian: some conservative secular thinkers argue that a libertarian approach to sex and sexuality can damage society.

• In 1957, the Wolfenden Report recommended the decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales. This caused a major debate between H. A. L. Hart, professor at Oxford University, and Lord Devlin, a senior judge:

- Devlin opposed the reports principle, that there should be an area of private morality which was none of the law's business.

- Hart defended the report using Mill's arguments: the law's function is to preserve public order and decency and to protect against the exploitation and corruption of others, but not to intervene in the private lives of citizens or enforce a pattern of behaviour. 

• STRENGTH – refers to key biblical teachings on love and justice, sees Jesus’ teachings as a message of acceptance rather than condemnation.

• RC argues it ignores key religious moral laws that are clearly stated in the Bible. Too relativistic and justifies what many see as immoral. 

Situation Ethics & Sexual Ethics

• Joseph Fletcher argues that acting out of a sense of agape is the most important thing and so is fine with sex before marriage if it is in a loving relationship

• Fletcher also allows some extra-marital sex if it is done out of agape as shown by his concentration camp example

Key Quotes - Application 

“Society has a right to protect itself from danger within and without, and not to force a monistic and monopoly standard of personal conduct.” (Fletcher) 

“There is some boundary between personal existence and the social membership. There is some range for private choice and personal taste. ” (Fletcher) 

“What sex probably needs more than anything is a good airing, demythologizing it and getting rid of its mystique-laden and occult accretions.” (Fletcher)

“Whether any form of sex (hetero, homo or auto) is good or evil depends on whether love is fully served.” (Fletcher) 

Utilitarianism & Sexual Ethics

Utilitarian views on sex is that it is pleasurable and therefore as a hedonist theory, it promotes having sex for pleasure

• Therefore, utilitarianism is okay with sex before marriage as it doesn’t require loving relationships as long as pleasure is maximised

• Furthermore, Utilitarian views on extra-marital sex is depending on the consequences of it. If you get away with it and it is never found out then a utilitarian could be okay with an affair because you maximised pleasured.

• Similarity, Utilitarianism is fine with homosexuality as it doesn’t see gender as an important element when looking at maximising pleasure (it doesn’t care if pleasure is maximised for two men as opposed for a heterosexual couple)

Sexual Ethics: Christian Views

Marriage & Sex

Traditionally, religious views on pre-marital sex have been dominated by passages in the Bible that have forbid it

• • St. Paul promoted celibacy in the Bible viewing sex as a distraction but allowed a couple who could not control their sexual desires to should marry to have sex

  • St. Augustine also thought humans should give up bodily pleasures if possible but that marriage was an acceptable alternative for those unable to do so.

  • St. Thomas Aquinas said that the natural purpose of sex is reproduction, and that sex for any reason other than reproduction is wrong. Because of this, Aquinas thought that sex should only take place in marriage as this gives stable environment in which children can be raised.

  • Nowadays, liberal Christians tend to allow pre-marital sex within committed and loving relationships.

• • • In the twentieth century many Christians became critical of traditional teachings about sexuality. In particular, it was argued that traditional teachings had given too little attention to the connection between sex and love. Rather than only seeing sex as a means of reproduction, many Christians in the twentieth began to emphasise sex as a uniting, bonding, healing and affirming act between married couples.

    • Jack Dominion (who is a Catholic but whose ideas go against the mainstream teachings of the church) argues that Christians should place less importance on sex as a way of reproducing, and that as long as it takes place in a loving relationship, sex outside marriage is not necessarily wrong.

    • Situation Ethics represents the most liberal approach to sex and marriage among Christians. Reflecting the mood in the 1960s, in which people were disillusioned with religions which seemed to put rules above emotions and principles, it argued that it is love – not whether someone is married – that makes sex right.

Homosexuality

Nowadays, views on homosexuality are much more liberal than previously with gay marriage legal in the UK but there are still many homophobic views and debate (particularly within religion) about whether homosexual is wrong or a sin

• Traditionally, Christian views about homosexuality has been to view it as a sin

  • The Old Testament of the Bible has a very negative view of homosexuality. In the book of Leviticus teaches that male homosexual sex is an ‘abomination’ and should be punishable by death.

  • St Paul’s letters in the New Testament have also influenced Christian teaching. In Romans 1:21-31, St Paul describes people engaging in same-sex sexual acts as ‘dishonouring their bodies’ and having ‘unnatural relations’ and he writes about ‘men committing shameless acts with men’.

• But increasingly liberal Christians are okay with homosexuality nowadays with openly gay priests such as Gene Robinson ordained as a bishop in the USA

• • Liberal Christian writers challenge the traditional condemnation of homosexuality. They maintain that the quality of the relationship – be it heterosexual or homosexual – is what determines its moral value.

  • Liberal approaches are influenced by situation ethics which emphasises agape (live) instead of fixed rules.

  • Liberal Christians draw on the teaching that all are made ‘in the image and likeness of God’. If God creates men and women as homosexuals, then that nature and inclination must be good. Otherwise, it would suggest that God intentionally creates disordered human beings.

Divorce

Traditionally, Christian view divorce as a sin:

• In the Old Testament divorce is allowed, but only the husband has the right to begin a divorce.

• Jesus condemned divorce in the New Testament, but it is unclear if he condemned all divorce or if he allowed divorce in cases of adultery.

• The Roman Catholic Church forbids divorce because Marriage is viewed as a sacrament (a ritual which changes the nature of something in the world). After the ritual the husband and wife are changed ontologically (in their nature or being). They have become united through an unbreakable bond. God has joined them and so no-one can legitimately break them apart.

However, most Protestant churches, such as the Church of England, argue that marriage should ideally be for life, but that divorce is acceptable as a last resort.

o Protestants do not see marriage as a sacrament, so they do not believe in the idea of an unbreakable bond in the same way Catholics do.

o Divorce is seen as something that we should try to avoid, but as acceptable as a last resort.

o Protestant churches emphasise forgiveness for divorced people.

Peter Vardy: The Puzzle of Sex

• Vardy outlines the history of attitudes to sex from a philosophical and religious perspective

• Argues that the link between sex and reproduction has been broken.

• He identifies key areas of challenge in modern attitudes to sex and points to inconsistencies in our thinking:

• Under-age sex: Morally wrong in the UK and the legal age of consent is set at 16; Outside the UK this age varies between 13-18. In some countries, a girl can get married as soon as she reaches puberty - could be as early as 10. 

• Adultery: Morally wrong but not a crime in Western world, it is a crime in some nations. Pre-marital sex and homosexuality are crimes in some nations but not in the Western world.

• This shows is that attitudes to sex and sexuality are not absolute.

• Vardy is concerned with liberal attitudes to sex whereby any act has become acceptable within the boundaries of consent.

• He argues that sex has become a commodity legitimised by science and encouraged by mass media.

• Purpose of sex has become enjoyment rather than divine union: its status as an act of love has been lost.

• Vardy makes a link between liberal attitudes to sex, (includes pornography and internet sex) and the decline of marriage and increase in divorce.

• Vardy raises key questions:

• Should religion concern itself with sexual choices?

• Have modern lifestyles choices meant that religions have had to adapt themselves to new approaches to sexuality?

Jack Dominian's critique of Roman Catholicism

• Through his work in psychiatry, Dominian realised that Catholic teachings on marriage were too absolute and legalistic.

• Dominian argued that a view of marriage as a sacred bond which cannot be broken could not prevent loveless marriages and marital breakdown - religion and psychiatry could work together to support couples.

• Dominian calls for a new definition of sex that recognises it as a personal expression, confirms sexual identity, brings reconciliation and healing, celebrates life and thanking one another for a loving relationship.

• He argues:

• Marriage reflects God's love. It should be where partners find love, understanding, kinship and forgiveness. It’s also the best place to raise children.

• Couples should have access pre-marital counselling: churches have a duty to prepare couples for marriage.

• Catholic Church is too hierarchical and similar to the relationship between parent and child. Dominian questions its teachings on a range of ethical issues. Human beings are rational enough to choose the moral action according to their circumstances.

• Dominian believes it’s possible to be Catholic and accept contraception and homosexuality; what matters is a loving relationship and a nurturing environment.

• He accepts that the Bible condemn homosexual practices, but argues that it shouldn't prevent same-sex marriages. They also should receive the support of Church and state.

• Dominian doesn't see reproduction as the sole purpose of sex – he sees sexual pleasure within marriage as a gift from God.

• This seems more in line with the Liberal Protestant outlook or even with secular approaches.

• Some Roman Catholics argue that Dominian’s views are a perversion of the Bible's message and go against natural law.

Contraception and infertility

• Artificial contraception is sinful, whether it is a method that prevents conception (e.g. a condom) or a method that induces an early abortion (e.g. the morning-after pill).

• Life begins at conception and a fertilised egg is a person.

• Natural family planning is acceptable if the couple feels that they would not be able to raise a child.

• Using contraception encourages immoral behaviour (pre-marital or extra-marital sex), which damages the institution of marriage, reducing male respect for women and giving humans the idea that they can have complete power over the body.

• There are no moral solution to infertility.

• Argue against IVF because children are a gift from God and not a right.

• If donor eggs or sperm are used, it goes against the divine unity and integrity of marriage (sacramentum).

• IVF means some embryos are discarded, which equates to killing a human life.

Evaluation

• Gives clear answers to sexual ethical issues.

Lack of concern for the impact this has on relationships and family life. For example, a lack of availability of contraception has contributed to the catastrophic spread of HIV in some African countries. Sexual abstinence is not a practical solution. 

Liberal Protestantism

• Soul has inherent value rather than being a source of sin.

• Bible should be read metaphorically as stories which we can find ethical and religious truths.

• Believe in 'sex within a loving relationship' view so is more accepting of homosexuality, cohabitation and sexual relations.

• Love is central to human relationships and sex is an expression of that love. 

• It characterises situation ethics. Fletcher doesn't reject Christian morals, but argues they should be put aside if they undermine the value of love.

Homosexuality

• Quality of a relationship is what determines its moral value.

• Lifelong homosexual relationships are acceptable.

• We are all made 'in the image and likeness of God' so God created homosexual men and women.

Marriage, Divorce and extra-marital sex

• Acceptable if there is irreversible marriage breakdown or adultery. Remarriage is permissible. What matters first is agape: reflecting Robinson and Fletcher’s situation ethics.

• Pre-marital sex and cohabitation is moral if based on love, justice and consent.

Contraception and infertility

• Allowed to limit the size of the family and not to stop having children altogether. Smaller family is better for women's health and allows for a better standard of living. 

• Sex is for enjoyment, to strengthen marriage and procreation. It is better to combat HIV by using condoms than to expect everyone to follow Christian rules.

• IVF is morally acceptable because it can bring happiness. Life comes from God, anything that creates new life must be good. Situation ethics: the most loving action is to offer medical help and to use the God-given gifts of healing.

Evaluation

• STRENGTH – refers to key biblical teachings on love and justice, sees Jesus’ teachings as a message of acceptance rather than condemnation.

• Refers to key biblical teachings on love and justice and sees the teachings of Jesus as a message of acceptance rather than condemnation.

• WEAKNESS - Catholics argue it ignores key religious moral laws clearly stated in the Bible. Too relativistic and justifies what many see as immoral. 

• On this view, Liberal Protestantism is too relativistic and justifies what many would regard as immoral.

Evangelical Protestantism

• Salvation comes from God's grace through Christ rather than through human action.

• Bible is literally true: it’s the only source of authority and inspiration

• Emphasis on the conversion experience: 'born again'.

• Mission work is an important responsibility for believers.

Marriage, Divorce and extra-marital sex

• Marriage is a sacred union because partners become one flesh through marriage.

• Sex is for enjoyment and procreation.

• Because the ultimate purpose of sex is procreation, it should only take place in a heterosexual relationship, within marriage.

• Children are best raised in a stable family environment and only marriage can provide this stability.

• Divorce - breaking of the divine bond – is sometimes a necessary evil. 

• Silver Ring Thing actively campaigns for celibacy among teenagers, encouraging them to wait until marriage.

Homosexuality

• It is a sin as the Bible explicitly condemns homosexual acts, although Christ’s salvation can remove all sins, including homosexuality.

• Homosexuals should be welcomed into the Church and there should be no tolerance of homophobia. 

• Some Churches advocate controversial conversion therapy: those with homosexual feelings undergo psychological treatment or spiritual counselling to change their sexual orientation to heterosexual. 

Evaluation

• Medical, scientific and government organisations have expressed concern over conversion therapy and consider it potentially harmful.

• Minors are especially vulnerable, and there is evidence that conversion therapy can lead to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness and suicide.

• Such treatments have been criticised as a form of pseudoscience.

Fertility

• There is some consensus that IVF and artificial insemination are acceptable.

• Right for scientists to try to learn more about the causes of and cures for infertility.

• Accept the use of spare embryos in medical research, but only up to 14 days after fertilisation.

• Surrogacy is wrong because it involves a third party.

Evaluation

• Less dogmatic than Catholicism and more flexible with regard to infertility and contraception.

• There are concerns about its attitude to homosexuality, especially conversion therapies.

Possible Exam Questions

Section A

1 Explore the contribution of at least one world religion on issues in sexual ethics. (8) 

1 Explore the teaching of sacred text(s) of one world religion on issues in sexual ethics. (8)

1 Explore the diversity of religious approaches sexual ethics within one world religion. (8)

2. Assess the claim that religious approaches to same–sex relationships have been influenced by social and cultural changes. (12) SAMS 2016

2. Assess the significance of the claim the religious approaches to sexual ethics have been fully influenced by changing social attitudes. (12)

2. Assess the teaching of one world religion in relation to sexual ethics. (12) AS 2018  

2 Assess two key religious approaches to sexual ethics. (12) 2020 AS

Section B

3b Analyse the strengths of contributions from religious ethical theory in making decisions in matters of sexual ethics. (20)

3b Analyse the significance of  contributions from secular non-religious ethical theory in making decisions in matters of sexual ethics. (20)

3b) Analayse the strengths and weakness of claim religious ethical theory is unhelpful in sexual ethical decision making. (20)

Section C

4 Evaluate the strengths and weakness of claim religious ethical theory is unhelpful in sexual ethical decision making.. (30) 

4 Evaluate the claim that  Utilitarianism is the best way to think about the issue of childlessness’ (30)

4 Evaluate the claim that secular ethical approach's to same sex ethics are better than religious contributions. (30)