‘Sexual behaviour should be a matter of public norms and legislation’ Discuss
12 views 0 purchase
Course
Sexual ethics
Institution
OCR
Book
Oxford A Level Religious Studies for OCR
This document includes OCR A Level Religious Studies - Sexual ethics Essay. This is an example of an essay that could potentially come up. Some of the essays include summaries. I am an A* student and these essays are all at an A-A* standard. If you need further help, please contact me and I will be...
'Boethius’ ideas were successfully updated by St Anselm' Discuss(40)
How far is it true to claim that it is not necessary to resolve the conflicts between divine attributes.(40)
Have Boethius, Anselm or Swinburne successfully resolved problems connected with God’s attributes and human free will?
All for this textbook (51)
Written for
A/AS Level
OCR
Religious Studies
Sexual ethics
All documents for this subject (4)
Seller
Follow
kadjis
Reviews received
Content preview
‘Sexual behaviour should be a matter of public norms and legislation’ Discuss.
Sexual behaviour includes homosexual relationships, extra-marital relations and pre-marital sex
and has always been an area of great significance to people. Sigmund Freud Frued, for
example, argued that human sexuality is a defining feature of our personalities. Sexual
behaviour is an immensly controversial topic and has a multitude of personal moral issues and
debates surrounding it. Many debates about sexual morality contain resentment or rejections of
religious beliefs about marriage and sexual acts. Through critical analysis, it will become clear
that sexual behaviour should mostly be private but sexual bhevaiour which causes harm like
pedophilia should be a matter of public norms and legislation.
Sexual behaviour should mostly be private especially in regards to homosexuality. Public norms
and legislationlegilsation haves been used to entrench discrimination and deprive certain
individuals of their social and economic rights and their access to justice. Laws against
homosexuality often define homosexuality as ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ and
refer to it as ‘gross indecency’. We cannot and should not uphold such views as they demean
the value and the humanity of people. In the UK, the Wwolfenden report (1957) decriminalised
homosexuality between two consenting adults and stated that the law should prevent abuse and
protect the young and other vulnerable individuals, it should not intrude on matters of personal
morality. Thomas Aquinas, influenced by Cicero and Aristotle, is therefore unconvincing when
he argues that our sexual behaviour should be governed by the primary and the secondary
precepts which the Cchurch uphold should seek to uphold. Aquinas argued that homosexuality
was ‘contra naturam’ and that it was ‘intrinsically disordered’. Those who engage in homosexual
behaviour have not used their reason correctly to interpret the natural law but have instead
chosen to follow the apparent good instead of the real good. To Aquinas, we must follow the
primary precepts because these help us achieve our aim of doing good and avoiding evil (the
synderesis). The primary precept of reproduction would mean that we should be ‘fruitful and
multiply’ and homosexuality would frustrate this command as the telos of sex is not being met.
Yet as convincingly argued by Stephen Fry, natural law promotes views that leads to the
‘stigmatisation and victimisation’ that leads to playground bullying and statistics which show that
the LGBTQ+ community is twice more likely than the heterosexual teen to comtemplate suicide.
Therefore, it is clear that sexual behvaiour in regards to homosexuality should mostly be private
and should not be subject to societal norms and legislation, especially when they uphold
dangerous and harmful views.
Contrastingly, Immaneual Kant, in his absolutist theory, argued that sexual relations should
absolutely be governed by ethical principles which the law should codify. The only sexual
relations that are morally acceptable are those which occur between a married man and
womaen. Kant thus argued that sexual behaviour can only legitimtaly take place within the
institution of marriage and nowherething else. To Kant, sexual desires present in extra/pre
marital sex are morally condemable. Such desires are inherently objectifying and are
incompatible with respect for humanity. It is the cause of the deepest degradation as ‘the person
is cast aside as one casts away a lemon which has been sucked dry’. In Kant's categorical
imperative, he argues that we cannot treat people ‘as a means to an end’ we must always treat
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller kadjis. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $6.36. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
