Philosophy
We can legally contract away our bodies for use in manual labor that picks strawberries or cleans hotel rooms. We can agree to use our bodies in ways that are physically dangerous and potentially harmful through exposure to various chemicals and repetitive motions. There is no problem with boxers agreeing to step in a ring and assault each other, some dying as a result. Is there something inherently different about sexuality?
Or is the case in favor of legalizing prostitution another example of a libertarian argument failing to account for the realities of the context. When there is a power differential in society, would this lead to the strong being able to further prey upon the weak? This would not be a choice made by most women, generally only those on the bottom rung of the social ladder who then have little choice but to fulfill the desires of those in a stronger social position to be able to feed their families.
Or is the problem that sexuality should not be seen as a commodity? There are certain things that are not things and this would be one. (Health care, of course, would be another...but that's a different post.)
Is it a public health matter? Is it like gambling where a prohibition helps maintain the neighborhoods?
Is the illegality of prostitution a leftover of our puritanical past or is there good reason for it?
- Is Crime Healthy For Society?
In his book on the sociological method, Emile Durkheim argues that while individual criminal acts may be pathological to social health, crime itself actually is good for society. At first glance, we think that eliminating all crime would be a positive...
- Stress And Health
I was listening to an interview with Stanford neurologist Robert Sapolsky on NPR a few weeks back and it really struck me. Sapolsky who studies the relation between the neurological and the social in primates told a fascinating story in discussing his...
- Are Certain Groups Comedically Out Of Bounds On Ethical Grounds?
I was having a conversation last night with Hanno and C.Ewing and my routine came up. Hanno raised questions about the end portion -- the Eskimo jokes. Having had friends who spent time in Alaska, he was well aware that, unbeknownst to me (although a...
- Porn Stars And Beauty Queens
Any lovers of irony or fans of Joseph Heller's Catch-22 out there? If so, I have a story for you... So it turns out that Melissa King, a girl who did some porn to be able to make the money necessary to enter a beauty pageant, ended up losing her Miss...
- Physics Professor David Flory's "hobby"
I guess physics became boring for David Flory took up a "hobby"...promoting prostitution. I checked Fairleigh Dickinson University's faculty. Guess what, his webpage has been withdrawn. But, I did find this. "Physics professor ran online sex ring...
Philosophy
Should Prostitution Be Illegal?
We can legally contract away our bodies for use in manual labor that picks strawberries or cleans hotel rooms. We can agree to use our bodies in ways that are physically dangerous and potentially harmful through exposure to various chemicals and repetitive motions. There is no problem with boxers agreeing to step in a ring and assault each other, some dying as a result. Is there something inherently different about sexuality?
Or is the case in favor of legalizing prostitution another example of a libertarian argument failing to account for the realities of the context. When there is a power differential in society, would this lead to the strong being able to further prey upon the weak? This would not be a choice made by most women, generally only those on the bottom rung of the social ladder who then have little choice but to fulfill the desires of those in a stronger social position to be able to feed their families.
Or is the problem that sexuality should not be seen as a commodity? There are certain things that are not things and this would be one. (Health care, of course, would be another...but that's a different post.)
Is it a public health matter? Is it like gambling where a prohibition helps maintain the neighborhoods?
Is the illegality of prostitution a leftover of our puritanical past or is there good reason for it?
- Is Crime Healthy For Society?
In his book on the sociological method, Emile Durkheim argues that while individual criminal acts may be pathological to social health, crime itself actually is good for society. At first glance, we think that eliminating all crime would be a positive...
- Stress And Health
I was listening to an interview with Stanford neurologist Robert Sapolsky on NPR a few weeks back and it really struck me. Sapolsky who studies the relation between the neurological and the social in primates told a fascinating story in discussing his...
- Are Certain Groups Comedically Out Of Bounds On Ethical Grounds?
I was having a conversation last night with Hanno and C.Ewing and my routine came up. Hanno raised questions about the end portion -- the Eskimo jokes. Having had friends who spent time in Alaska, he was well aware that, unbeknownst to me (although a...
- Porn Stars And Beauty Queens
Any lovers of irony or fans of Joseph Heller's Catch-22 out there? If so, I have a story for you... So it turns out that Melissa King, a girl who did some porn to be able to make the money necessary to enter a beauty pageant, ended up losing her Miss...
- Physics Professor David Flory's "hobby"
I guess physics became boring for David Flory took up a "hobby"...promoting prostitution. I checked Fairleigh Dickinson University's faculty. Guess what, his webpage has been withdrawn. But, I did find this. "Physics professor ran online sex ring...