Sexual Desire : A Moral Philosophy Of The Erotic

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Summary: Sex, truth and moral theory
Review: Roger Scruton has developed a clear and solidly-argued theory of sexual morality -- not in the sense of what kinds of things are morally acceptable with whom when, but of the relation between the experience of sex/desire and the moral makeup of rational, autonomous, physical beings. The argument proceeds from an analysis of the person as (1) a specifically embodied instance of (2) a historically-situated "first-person perspective" (fpp) that (3) endures through time and is consequently responsible for her expressions, choices and actions. These three features combine to demand respect for each person as unique and irreplaceable. What underlies sexual desire of the personalist (vs. animalistic) sort is a push toward union of fpp -- seeing through each others' eyes, adopting each others' interests, sharing in each others' emotional experiences, etc. -- what Scruton calls "projecting oneself onto the other's mental landscape." But because our only access to the other's fpp is through his embodiment, and because his embodiment is what individuates him among others in whom we are not so interested, the striving toward union expresses itself through desire for union of bodies. "Sexual desire is not impeded by morality, but created by it," and in fact, "safeguards the integrity of our embodiment," that is, one of the central things that makes us human. Anything less than a personalist ethics of sex is contrary to the human dignity of its participants. The book contains ample supporting argument, including provocative consideration of side issues like friendship, gender, marriage, perversion and love-as-virtue. It offers imaginative yet realistic discussion of the argument's ramifications. Examples, yes, but pertinent and straightfowardly treated. Readers in search of erotica will be disappointed, but those in search of sound and perenially relevant moral philosophy will not.