PHL243H1 Lecture 10: LEC10- Sex Choices- Homesexuality March 10 2010
LEC10: Sex Choices: Homesexuality
March, 10th 2010
Today: More on Sex and Morality
! gays shouldn't marry b/c it is a kind of cop out
Framework Assumptions: Ethics and Other People's Sexuality
! serve and protect are 2 different entities: De Sousa
! 1. what is good in general for the individuals such that all individuals can be
living in a framework in which they can thrive
! we need a substantive theory of human nature b/c we need to know what
humans are like in order to make rules for them to thrive
! 2. role of the state is to defend individuals from aggression and it does not have
any role to play in the choice of lives that individuals make
! we need only a minimal theory of what human nature is like
Consequence of Sex
! 1. Freud: either you have sex everynight and is exhausted or you do not and as a
result you can use your energy elsewhere ie. science and math etc. such that it
contributes in a positive way to society
! 2. libertarian idea (low degree of state control)
Sociological Facts
! free love = bad connotation while free enterprise = good connotation even though
both have free in it
J.S. Mill's Harm Principle
! each person's liberty should not be infringed in any way unless that person's
liberty is infringing someone else's liberty
! the main reason why we would infringe liberty is to prevent harm
An obvious Objection
! should I intervene if it kills you?
! supported by 1.
! should I intervene if it kills me? (by second hand smoke?)
! harm principle
! if it costs me (because of health care costs?)
Finnis against Homosexuality
! this principle will prohibit masturbation b/c you treat your own body as mere
instrument for pleasure
Note the reference to the “common good”
! this is not consequentialist
www.notesolution.com
Document Summary
gays shouldn"t marry b/c it is a kind of cop out. serve and protect are 2 different entities: de sousa. 1. what is good in general for the individuals such that all individuals can be living in a framework in which they can thrive. we need a substantive theory of human nature b/c we need to know what humans are like in order to make rules for them to thrive. 2. role of the state is to defend individuals from aggression and it does not have any role to play in the choice of lives that individuals make. we need only a minimal theory of what human nature is like. Freud: either you have sex everynight and is exhausted or you do not and as a result you can use your energy elsewhere ie. science and math etc. such that it contributes in a positive way to society.