Philosophy
I sat in on our Gender and Identity class the other day and have been pondering this question: is sexual orientation a behaviorist notion (based on what you've done) or is it counterfactual (based on what you would do)?
Determining what it means for a counterfactual to be true is a philosophical conundrum all its own, but in this case the behaviorist approach seems to have some problems of its own. There is a poem in Allen Ginsberg's later writings in which he describes a sexual encounter with a male student who was clearly trophy hunting -- the young man was clearly excited to be able to say that he had sex with Allen Ginsberg, but was noticeably not excited while actually having sex with Allen Ginsberg. The student was straight. If it wasn't for the counter-cultural credentials, he would never have wanted to engage in this activity. But he did, even though he is very unlikely to do so, or even to desire to do so, again. Does this encounter make him bisexual?
If sexual orientation a matter of what you've done, we run into cases like this. If it is what you would do, how can we determine anything since it seems not possible to know what one would do given that you haven't done it. What would count as evidence? Is it what you've had a desire to do? In this case, our desires would have to be transparent to us. Are they? Does self-reporting become perfect? Or is it a counterfactual here, what you would have a desire to do? I have no idea how we would make determinations like this. How do we determine sexual orientation? It seems an important question to be able to answer if we want it to afford legal protection (although most cases would revolve around perpetrator's belief about the sexual orientation of the victim -- right or wrong, one could easily see cases where the question becomes relevant).
- Howl And The Power Of Poetry
Just watched "Howl" and highly recommend it. James Franco is amazing as Allen Ginsberg and the film is an absolute delight. I, with a deep love of the Beats, and TheWife, who had no sense of their work or history, both just loved it. Focusing on the trial...
- Sex And Power
Anthony Wiener is just the latest in an on-going string of political sex scandals. Is the correlation between politics and infidelity real or apparent? It seems there are four main possibilities: 1) The rate of inappropriate sexual behavior for politicians...
- A Plea For Charity In Understanding African-american Homophobia
A central tenet in critical thinking is the principle of charity, one should always formulate a view in the strongest possible fashion. I'm trying my best to be charitable with the anti-gay marriage arguments of the African-American lawmakers in Maryland...
- The Ethics Of Incest
We had a senior thesis writer this semester look at the ethical limiting case of incest. So, it seemed a bit odd when this story broke only a week after her thesis defense: A Columbia University professor has been arrested on charges of having sexual...
- Proof Ken Mehlman Is Not Gay
So Bill Maher appeared on Larry King Live and claimed that Ken Mehlman, then chair of the Republican National Committee, is gay. A couple days later, Mehlman announces he is stepping down from the post. The general assumption, of course, is that Maher...
Philosophy
Sexual Orientation as Counterfactual
I sat in on our Gender and Identity class the other day and have been pondering this question: is sexual orientation a behaviorist notion (based on what you've done) or is it counterfactual (based on what you would do)?
Determining what it means for a counterfactual to be true is a philosophical conundrum all its own, but in this case the behaviorist approach seems to have some problems of its own. There is a poem in Allen Ginsberg's later writings in which he describes a sexual encounter with a male student who was clearly trophy hunting -- the young man was clearly excited to be able to say that he had sex with Allen Ginsberg, but was noticeably not excited while actually having sex with Allen Ginsberg. The student was straight. If it wasn't for the counter-cultural credentials, he would never have wanted to engage in this activity. But he did, even though he is very unlikely to do so, or even to desire to do so, again. Does this encounter make him bisexual?
If sexual orientation a matter of what you've done, we run into cases like this. If it is what you would do, how can we determine anything since it seems not possible to know what one would do given that you haven't done it. What would count as evidence? Is it what you've had a desire to do? In this case, our desires would have to be transparent to us. Are they? Does self-reporting become perfect? Or is it a counterfactual here, what you would have a desire to do? I have no idea how we would make determinations like this. How do we determine sexual orientation? It seems an important question to be able to answer if we want it to afford legal protection (although most cases would revolve around perpetrator's belief about the sexual orientation of the victim -- right or wrong, one could easily see cases where the question becomes relevant).
- Howl And The Power Of Poetry
Just watched "Howl" and highly recommend it. James Franco is amazing as Allen Ginsberg and the film is an absolute delight. I, with a deep love of the Beats, and TheWife, who had no sense of their work or history, both just loved it. Focusing on the trial...
- Sex And Power
Anthony Wiener is just the latest in an on-going string of political sex scandals. Is the correlation between politics and infidelity real or apparent? It seems there are four main possibilities: 1) The rate of inappropriate sexual behavior for politicians...
- A Plea For Charity In Understanding African-american Homophobia
A central tenet in critical thinking is the principle of charity, one should always formulate a view in the strongest possible fashion. I'm trying my best to be charitable with the anti-gay marriage arguments of the African-American lawmakers in Maryland...
- The Ethics Of Incest
We had a senior thesis writer this semester look at the ethical limiting case of incest. So, it seemed a bit odd when this story broke only a week after her thesis defense: A Columbia University professor has been arrested on charges of having sexual...
- Proof Ken Mehlman Is Not Gay
So Bill Maher appeared on Larry King Live and claimed that Ken Mehlman, then chair of the Republican National Committee, is gay. A couple days later, Mehlman announces he is stepping down from the post. The general assumption, of course, is that Maher...