PHIL 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Presses Universitaires De France, The Dying Animal, Alan Soble
12 Jun 2018
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Introduction
THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE
PHILOSOPHY OF SEX
Alan Soble
Only when you [have sex] . . . are you most cleanly alive and most cleanly
yourself. . . . Sex isn’t just friction and shallow fun. Sex is also the revenge
on death. Don’t forget death. Don’t ever forget it. Yes, sex too is limited in
its power. . . . But tell me, what power is greater?
—Philip Roth, The Dying Animal
When a great deal of material has been written on a subject, by many
different writers of various persuasions and backgrounds, eventually
it will be possible to assemble a collection of assertions about the subject
that are bound to be silly. (The principle I have just put forward reverses
a well-known story, according to which a group of monkeys equipped with
typewriters will eventually produce a Shakespearian sonnet.) This princi-
ple holds for the topics of love and human sexuality, and perhaps espe-
cially for these loaded and emotional subjects. I have over the years
collected a number of apparently absurd or ridiculous claims made by in-
xvii
This essay is a revision of my “Philosophy of Sexuality,” an entry in the Internet Encyclope-
dia of Philosophy (<www.utm.edu/research/iep/>). It is reprinted by permission of the ed-
itor of the encyclopedia, James Fieser. This encyclopedia entry is a descendent of three ear-
lier pieces: “Sexuality and Sexual Ethics,” in Encyclopedia of Ethics, ed. Lawrence and
Charlotte Becker (New York: Garland, 1992), 1141–47 (rev. version in Encyclopedia of Ethics,
2nd ed. [N.Y.: Routledge, 2001], 1570–77); “La morale et la sexualité,” in Dictionnaire
d’éthique et de philosophie morale, ed. Monique Canto-Sperber (Paris: Presses Universitaires
de France, 1996), 1387–91; and “Sexuality, Philosophy of,” in Routledge Encyclopedia of Phi-
losophy, ed. Edward Craig (London: Routledge, 1998), vol. 8, 717–30.
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Document Summary
Only when you [have sex] . are you most cleanly alive and most cleanly yourself. Yes, sex too is limited in its power. This princi- ple holds for the topics of love and human sexuality, and perhaps espe- cially for these loaded and emotional subjects. I have over the years collected a number of apparently absurd or ridiculous claims made by in- This essay is a revision of my philosophy of sexuality, an entry in the internet encyclope- dia of philosophy (). It is reprinted by permission of the ed- itor of the encyclopedia, james fieser. This encyclopedia entry is a descendent of three ear- lier pieces: sexuality and sexual ethics, in encyclopedia of ethics, ed. Charlotte becker (new york: garland, 1992), 1141 47 (rev. version in encyclopedia of ethics, [n. y. : routledge, 2001], 1570 77); la morale et la sexualit , in dictionnaire d" thique et de philosophie morale, ed.
