1.

The Meaning of Sexual Ethics

Sexual ethics or sex ethics (also called sexual
morality) is the study of human sexuality and
the expression of human sexual behavior. Sexual
ethics seeks to understand and evaluate the
moral conduct of interpersonal relationships and
sexual activities from social, cultural and
philosophical perspectives. Broadly speaking,
sexual ethics relates to community and personal
standards about the conduct of interpersonal
relations, including sexual relations within or
• outside of marriage, issues of consent and power
(like rape or incest), how individuals relate to
society, and how individual behaviour impacts
public health concerns. Sexual ethics also considers
standards for intervention in physical processes,
rights of individuals to self-determination, ideas for
human flourishing, and the importance of social
context for the interpretation and regulation of
sexual behavior (http://www.encyclopedia.com).
• Sexual ethics is a branch of philosophy and
ethics or philosophy of sex that studies sex and
love and explores the moral obligations,
permissibility or impermissibility of sexual
activities. It includes ethics of phenomena
such as prostitution, rape, sexual harassment,
sexual identity, and homosexuality. Sexual
ethics involves issues such as gender
identification, sexual orientation, the
imbalance of power in relationships, the age of
consent, pre-mature or before marriage and/ or
while married sex, pre-marital and non-marital
sex, sexual relations, and procreation
• According to Niekerk, there was a time when
ordinary and nonintellectual people’s understanding
of and association with the term “ethics” was
fundamentally informed by one or more aspects of
the phenomenon of sex. In optimistic morality, the
positive value of sexual activity in human relations as
well as its functionality in providing pleasure for its
own sake is increasingly acknowledged. Sex is seen
as a bonding mechanism, something that contributes
directly to the quality of intimate relationships. This
is a cultural environment where the idea that pleasure
is intrinsically good is recognized and propagated
pleasure – particularly the kind of pleasure that sex
causes – does not only have instrumental value. That
implies the value of facilitating human procreation
(2016: 9).
• Another argument against the moral
acceptability of sex has to do with the way in
which sexual activity seemingly blurs the
alleged boundaries between human and animal
identity. When partaking in sex, humans seem
to lose control over themselves. That
constitutes a threat to the integrity of
personhood. In the sexual act a person yields
to the desires, whims, and preferences of
another and thus becomes subservient to what
another person wants, even sometimes at the
• cost of yielding one’s basic human dignity. Sex
may be seen as an instinctual agency by which
persons respond to one another through their
bodies. Whereas, the pessimistic view suggests
that sex is a threat to the maintenance of
human reason in behavior. It, therefore, only
has a place in marriage, and there it ought to
mainly function for the sake of procreation.
Sexuality can enable people to treat this other
being as just the person he or she happens to
be (ibid: 10).
• Sexuality as central to the human condition,
and sexual desire as in some sense a
fundamental human need and gratification is
not to be excluded without doing some
damage to the human person. Being a man or
woman is not an accidental dimension to what
we are, and having the sexual needs of a man
or woman is not something to be understood
simply in terms of control, or even use.
Sexuality reaches into the soul and our
knowing of human desire and of human love
owes much to the proper and healthy
development of the sexual gift in each of us
During the 1960s & 1970s, secular social scientists
described the sexual and human nature shift and
transition from a “moralistic society” to a “naturalistic
society.”
• A. Characteristics of a moralistic society:
• 1. Sex is evil.
• 2. Sex is for procreation only.
• 3. Women are presumed to lack sexual desire and
have few rights while “boys will be boys.”
• 4. Sex is not to be talked about.
• 5. There are a lot of restrictions on what is proper
and what is not. These are usually tied to religious
taboos.
 B. Characteristics of a naturalistic society:

• 1. Sex is good.
• 2. Sex is for pleasure as well as procreation.
• 3. Women and men are equal.
• 4. Sex is freely talked about. Sex is no longer the “S”
word.
• 5. There are few restrictions on what is proper conduct.
• 6. Some social scientists go so far as to suggest that all
sexual activity is socially learned and not ascribed by
religious dogma or the nature of gender.
• NOTE: Two exceptions: incest and the general
requirement that sexual intercourse eventually
fall within the confines of marriage. These
seem to be universally respected.
•  Sex is casual (Rationalists). For example:
“Do what is right in your own eyes.”
•  Sex is sacred scripture (Luther& Calvin
(Protestant)- Puritans. For example:
“Moderation all in all things”
•  Sex is carnal (Augustine (Roman Catholic).
For example: “Avoid all worldly pleasure”
• Contemporary efforts in sexual ethics recognize
multiple meaning for human sexuality such as
pleasure, reproduction, communication, love,
conflict, social stability and so forth. Most of those
who labors at sexual ethics recognize the need to
guide sexual behavior in ways that preserve its
potential for good and restrict preserve its potential
for evil. Safety, nonviolence, equality, autonomy,
mutuality and truthfulness are generally
acknowledged as required for minimal human justice
in sexual relationships. Many think that care,
responsibility, commitment, love, and fidelity are also
required too, and the politics of sex has become an
ethical matter for persons and societies or institutions
and professions (Novak, 1992).
2. The Terminology and Philosophical Context of
Sexual Ethics

• In philosophic terminology, hedonism is the

idea that the only intrinsic good is pleasure,
making selfish pleasure as primary goal.
Hedonism is combined with nihilism in a
selfish morality and with utilitarianism to seek
maximization of happiness for everyone.
•  Moral Nihilism is the meta-ethical view
that all value judgments are either human
constructs or meaningless, and nothing is
inherently right or wrong.
•  Moral Relativism is the meta-ethical view
that moral judgments are subjective. In some
cases, moral relativism is merely descriptive,
and in other cases, this approach is normative,
whereby morality should be judged in the
context of each cultures convictions and
practices.
•  Moral Universalism is the meta-ethical
view that moral judgments are objectively true
or false, and that everyone should behave
according to the same set of normative ethics.
• In relation to this, many practical
questions arise regarding human sexuality
such as whether sexual norms should be
enforced by law, given social approval or
changed over time. Considerable
controversy continues over which system
of ethics or morality best promotes
human happiness, and which is inherently
right (Soble, 2002).
 3.The Consent and Sexual Ethics
• First, morally transformative consent always involves a
verbal or nonverbal action, some token of consent.
Consent is performativity rather than attitudinal. From
the human rights and international law perspective,
consent is a key issue in sexual ethics. Throughout
history, a whole range of consensual sexual acts such as
adultery, fornication, inter-racial and inter-faith sex,
and sodomy have been prohibited. At the same time,
various forced sexual activities such as rape, abduction,
prostitution and polygamy were not illegal.
• Then, the criminalization of marital rape is
very recent, and the act is still legal in some
countries of the world. For instance, adultery
and homosexual acts remain illegal in many
countries and results in death penalty (Soble,
2002: 387-388).
• In modern system of ethics, sexual ethics is
morally permissible only if all participants
have common consent. Sexual ethics also
considers whether person is capable of giving
consent and the sort of acts that person can
consent to.
• Children become mentally handicapped or ill,
animal, prisoners, and people under influence
of drugs like alcohol might consider in a
certain situations as lack of ability to give
informed consent. People who believe that
sexual intercourse is morally tied to love and
marriage are likely to favour a ban on
prostitution. Sex can be sold only when it is
understood in terms of pleasure and not
exclusively in terms of married love
(Primoratz, 1999).
• In all cultures, consensual sexual intercourse is
acceptable within marriage. However, extramarital
sex is sexual relationship that occurs outside of
marriage usually referring to when a married person
engages in sexual activity with someone other than
their marriage partner. Commonly, there are moral or
religious objections to sexual relations by a married
person outside of the marriage, and such activity is
often referred to in law or religion as adultery. In
some other cultures, sexual intercourse outside of
married is controversial, unacceptable and even
illegal. In most cultures, extramarital sex without the
approval of the partner is often considered to be
unethical.
• Extra-marital sex is a sex when one member of
marital union has sexual intercourse with
another person without the consent of their
spouse. It may be considered to be infidelity or
cheating (ibid).
• Most societies disapprove of a person in a
position of power to engage in sexual activity
with a subordinate. This is often considered as
unethical simply as a breach of trust.
• When the person takes advantage of a position
of power in the workplace, this may constitute
sexual harassment because subordinates may
be unable to give proper consent to a sexual
advance because of fear of repercussions or
consequences. Furthermore, child-adult incest
is also seen an abuse of a position of trust and
power, in addition to the inability of a child to
give consent (Jones, 2010).
4. The Pre-mature or Pre-marital Sex and Sexual
Ethics

• Premature sex is premature ejaculation (PE)

that happens when a man regularly reaches
an orgasm (or ejaculates) much sooner during
sexual intercourse than what he or his partner
would have desired. There are two types of
premature sex, for instance:
• 1. Lifelong premature sex (primary), which
existed when you first became sexually active.
• 2. Acquired premature sex (secondary), which
develops over time after you have had a normal
sexual life, without ejaculation issues.
• The formal definition for lifelong premature sex
is ejaculation which always or nearly always
occurs prior to or within about one minute of
vaginal penetration, and the inability to delay
ejaculation on all or nearly all vaginal
penetrations, and negative personal consequences
such as distress, bother, frustration and/or the
avoidance of sexual intimacy (Chien Lee, 2006).
• Pre-marital sex is sexual activity between two people
who are not married to each other. In relation to pre-
marital sex usually both parties are unmarried. This
might be objected to religious or moral grounds when
individuals view within a given society can vary
greatly. In recent decades, pre-marital sex has become
a socially and morally acceptable practice among
western cultures. Freud, of course, chose the name
“libido” to refer to this powerful natural instinct,
which he believed manifests itself as early as infancy
(ibid).
• Furthermore, the institution of marriage brings
up the issue of premarital sex wherein people
who may choose to at some point in their lives
marry, engage in sexual activity with partners
who they may or may not marry. Various
cultures have different attitudes about the
ethics of such behavior, some condemning it
while others view it to be normal and
acceptable
(http://legaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/pr
emarital+sex).
• NOTE: Development of human maturity
requires acceptance and understanding of
one’s own sexuality. For the sake of this term
paper, terms premature sex and pre-marital sex
are used interchangeably since the two words
have the same or nearly the same meaning or
synonymous function.
5.The Meaning of Pornography
• Pornography is derived from the Greek word: “Porne”
meaning ‘Whore or Prostitution’ and “Graphein”
meaning ‘To write, to record or illustration.’ Hence,
pornography literally means the ‘written description of
prostitution, ‘Writing of harlots’ or ‘Depictions of acts
of prostitutes.’ Pornography has come to mean
materials intended to arouse sexual feelings that may
include sexist or violent elements. Pornography is a
systematic practice of exploitation and subordination
based on sex that differentially harms women.
• The bigotry and contempt pornography promotes the
acts of aggression and diminishes opportunities for
equality of rights in employment, education, property,
public accommodations, and public services
(Malamuth, 1999: 77).
• Longino (1980: 43) defined pornography as verbal or
pictorial material which represents or describes
sexual behavior that is degrading or abusive to one or
more of the participants in such a way as to endorse
the degradation. The harm that pornography does
may occur in the production phase take the form of
coercion, brutality, violence, or rape (As cited by
Maes, 2009).
• Furthermore, pornography can be defined as
any form of material that is created to sexually
arouse or provide sexual pleasure in modern
terms. Pornography can also be categorized
into two main groups, namely: soft-core and
hard-core. Soft-core pornography is described
as the illusion of sexual activity or the
simulation of sexual acts without the explicit
display of the participants’ genitalia such as
Playboy, Playgirl and Hustler.
• Hard-core pornography, on the other hand, is
described as showing sexual acts that are
extremely graphic or explicit; and the images
usually show aroused genitalia and
penetration. There are many cable channels,
magazines, movies and websites that are
dedicated to a variety of hard-core
pornography (Diamond, 1999 as cited by
Koch, 2011:9).
6.The Effects of Pornography
• Pornography involves the humiliating and abusive
treatment of others in a highly sexualized context,
which is like persistently engaging in bad thoughts
about others. It is toxic and can erode ones moral
character. The pornographic materials themselves
constitute harm because as a form of hate speech, the
silence and subordinate women. The consumption of
pornography facilitates and promotes the brute
pursuit of mere sensations; and it does not contribute
to an individual
• person’s flourishing rather it diminishes that
person’s sense of self and moral integrity rape
Pornography is also often characterized as an
enemy of imaginative activity (Maes, 2009).
• According to Fagan, pornography causes a
visual misrepresentation of sexuality, and
distorts an individual’s concept of sexual
relations by objectifying women, which in turn
alters both sexual attitudes and behavior. It is a
major threat to marriage, family, children, and
individual happiness. Pornography has power
to undermine individual and social functioning
about the nature of sexual intercourse.
• Men who habitually look at pornography have a
higher tolerance for abnormal sexual behaviors,
sexual aggression, promiscuity, and even rape. In
addition, men begin to view women and even
children as “sex objects,” commodities or instruments
for their pleasure, not as persons with their own
inherent dignity (2009: 1).
• Here it is important to understand Immanuel Kant’s
categorical imperative which says: “Act in such a
way that you always treat humanity, whether in your
own person or in the person of any other, never
simply as a means, but always at the same time as an
end.”
• The objection coming from Kantian ranks is that sex
causes people to take an interest in other people
mainly for the sake of the pleasure that they might
yield and not for the sake of relating to the other
person as a person.
• Pornography affects people’s emotional lives.
Married men who are involved in pornography feel
less satisfied with their marital sexual relations and
less emotionally attached to their wives. Women
married to men with a pornography addiction report
feelings of betrayal, mistrust, and anger.
Pornographic use may lead to infidelity and even
divorce. Adolescents who view pornography feel
shame, diminished self-confidence, and sexual
uncertainty (ibid: 2).
• Both soft and hard core-pornography present
women as animalistic and in need of control.
Women also are portrayed as easily accessible
objects intended for possession, this allows men
to commoditize women and appropriate what
produce or not compensating them at all. All sex
is arranged by men or at the request of men.
Women are alienated from their own bodies,
which are claimed by men. Hence, pornography
is a reflector and creator of male subjugation of
women, in which they depicted as objects to be
used to serve the pleasure of men.
• At the same time, women are degraded,
dehumanized, and frequently shown as both willing
and unwilling victims of abusive and violent acts.
The role of pornography within a society has been
formulated not only as representing intergroup
conflicts but also as confronting basic social tenets
of morality and behavior. In general, pornography is
seen as contributing to immoral sexual behavior
and to a change in the general moral climate that
would decrease the authority and influence of
moral institutions (Malamuth and Billings, 1984).
THANK
YOU!!
THANK YOU!!
Name of Group Members:
• 1. Tsalafo Chaka CveSk/ 041 /08
• 2. Habtamu Birhanu CveSk/ 020 /08
• 3. Etete Kelkile CveSk/ 012 /08
• 4. Gezahagn Gebre CveSk/ 018 /08