Deck 23: Sexual Morality

Question 1

Talk about:
-Casual sex

Answer 1

sex between people who have expressed no commitment to each other.

Question 2

Talk about:
-Incest

Answer 2

a sexual relationship between family members.

Question 3

Talk about:
-Liberal position regarding sexual morality

Answer 3

the view that sex is morally permissible if and only if it is engaged in by consenting adults.

Question 4

Talk about:
-Polyamorous relationships

Question 5

Talk about:
-Polyandry

Question 6

Talk about:
-Polygamy

Question 7

Talk about:
-Pre-marital sex

Question 8

Talk about:
-Prostitution

Question 9

Which of the following is true about polyamorous relationships?

A) All polyamorous relationships are polygamous.
B) Polygamous relationships and polyandrous relationships are both kinds of polyamorous relationships.
C) All polyamorous relationships are polyandrous.
D) A polyamorous relationship must be either polygamous or polyandrous.

Question 10

The "liberal position on sexual morality" states that

A) sex is morally permissible if and only if it is engaged in by consenting adults.
B) sex is morally permissible if and only if it is engaged in by married adults.
C) polyamorous sex is morally permissible.
D) prostitution is morally permissible.

Question 11

Which of these statements reflects the classical liberal ideal of personal liberty?

A) We are morally permitted to do what we want with fellow human beings as long as it maximizes overall happiness.
B) We are morally permitted to do what we want with fellow human beings as long as they are adults.
C) We are morally permitted to do what we want with fellow human beings as long as they would consent to it if they were fully informed.
D) We are morally permitted to do what we want with fellow human beings as long as they provide informed consent to our treatment.

Question 12

What is the conclusion of the Liberal Argument regarding sexual morality?

A) Every type of sexual activity among humans, except rape and sex with children, can be morally permissible, so long as their participants have given informed consent.
B) Every type of sexual activity among humans, except rape and sex with children, can be morally permissible, so long as they promote love, honesty, loyalty, and devotion.
C) If homosexual acts are contrary to "family values," then they are immoral.
D) If adult prostitution is contrary to personal liberty, then it is morally acceptable.

Question 13

Which of the following can a child not do, by definition?

A) Experience personal liberty
B) Give informed consent regarding sexual relations
C) Be seventeen years old
D) Experience oppression through exploitation

Question 14

According to the liberal position, which of the following is true?

A) It is impossible for incest to be morally acceptable.
B) It is possible for prostitution to be morally acceptable.
C) It is impossible for polygamy to be morally acceptable.
D) It is possible for rape to be morally acceptable.

Question 15

What might a Kantian appeal to in defense of the premise that we are morally permitted to do what we want with fellow human beings, so long as they provide informed consent to our treatment?

A) The importance of promoting the greatest possible happiness
B) The importance of love, honesty, loyalty, and devotion
C) The importance of autonomy
D) The importance of chastity

Question 16

Which of the following is a response a liberal could give to the Bernd Brandes "slaughter and consumption" case?

A) It was morally acceptable for Meiwes to kill and eat Brandes, whether he gave consent or not.
B) It is impossible to consent to be killed and eaten.
C) It is morally unacceptable to be killed and eaten, even when informed consent is given.
D) In a case of slaughter and consumption, consent is required, but it need not be informed consent.

Question 17

The fact that a homosexual couple can experience love, honesty, loyalty, and devotion challenges which of the following claims?

A) Homosexual relations are contrary to "family values."
B) Homosexual sex is "unnatural."
C) God forbids homosexual relationships.
D) If everyone engaged in homosexual sex, the results would be disastrous.

Question 18

The view that homosexual sex is immoral because God forbids it presupposes which of these theories?

A) Utilitarianism
B) Cultural relativism
C) Virtue ethics
D) Divine command theory

Question 19

What is one potential reason that prostitution might be immoral, according to the liberal position?

A) Sex expressing anything other than love is immoral.
B) Prostitutes are adults who are informed about the risks of their activities.
C) Prostitutes do not truly consent to prostitution because they are coerced into it because of their circumstances.
D) If everyone engaged in prostitution, the results would be disastrous.

Question 20

Which of the following is a reasonable objection to the claim that prostitutes cannot truly consent?

A) This claim suggests that prostitutes are uninformed about the risks of their activities.
B) This claim suggests that all prostitutes are minors.
C) This claim suggests that prostitutes are exercising their personal liberty.
D) This claim suggests that prostitutes are either lying or ignorant of their own motives.

Question 21

According to the problematic Definition of Marriage Argument,

A) a homosexual relationship can never qualify as marriage.
B) homosexual marriages are less legitimate than heterosexual marriages.
C) any two consenting adults can be married.
D) a prostitute cannot enter into a marriage.

Question 22

One popular argument against same-sex marriage claims that supporters of same-sex marriage must also support

A) heterosexual marriage.
B) prostitution.
C) polygamy.
D) casual sex.

Question 23

Which of these claims is the basis for an argument against legalizing polygamy?

A) All informed, consensual conduct should be legalized.
B) Legalizing polygamy raises the status of some people without downgrading the status of anyone else.
C) It is possible that all member of a polygamous union can offer informed consent.
D) Even if polygamy does not itself violate anyone's rights, its legalization is highly likely to do so, by contributing to oppression of women.

Question 24

A liberal would agree that

A) many instances of casual sex and sex work fail to qualify as informed or consensual.
B) all instances of casual sex and sex work fail to qualify as informed or consensual.
C) no instances of casual sex and sex work fail to qualify as informed or consensual.
D) consent is morally required for some instances of casual sex and sex work, but not others.

Question 25

The definition of casual sex is

A) sex engaged in by consenting adults.
B) sex between two people who have not been married.
C) sex between people who have expressed no commitment to each other.
D) sexual, romantic, or marital relationships among more than two people.

Question 26

The definition of prostitution is

A) sex between two people who have expressed no commitment to each other.
B) having sex in exchange for payment.
C) a social practice in which a man has more than one wife at the same time.
D) any sexual act absent love, honesty, loyalty, and devotion.

Question 27

What is the standard of affirmative consent?

A) Sex only becomes consensual once consent is explicitly given.
B) Sex becomes consensual once consent is implicitly or explicitly given.
C) Sex acts are consensual by default.
D) Sex is consensual unless it is resisted in some way.

Question 28

The "No Means No" policy operates under the assumption that sex acts

A) are non-consensual by default.
B) are consensual unless resisted in some way.
C) only become consensual once consent is explicitly given.
D) only become consensual once consent is implicitly or explicitly given.

Question 29

What is the "liberal position on sexual morality?" Identify what you take to be the strongest challenge to the liberal position and explain the best available response that a liberal could make to that challenge.

Question 30

What is informed consent? Do you think that it is possible for someone to provide informed consent to being slaughtered and consumed? Why or why not?

Question 31

Assume that the liberal position on sexual morality is correct. Should we legalize all forms of informed consensual sex? Defend your answers.

Question 32

Does consistency require that defenders of same-sex marriage support polygamy as well? If so, why? If not, what is the relevant difference?

Question 33

What is the strongest argument that prostitution is immoral, and why? What is the strongest objection to this argument?

Question 34

Corvino claims that homosexual couples have sex

A) solely for the purpose of pleasure.
B) for the same reasons that heterosexual couples who do not want children have sex.
C) out of a lack of self-control.
D) solely for the purpose of emotional intimacy.

Question 35

Corvino accepts that homosexual sex is unnatural in which sense?

A) It is statistically abnormal.
B) It is not practiced by other animals.
C) It violates the purpose of one's reproductive organs.
D) It is not the result of innate features of organisms.

Question 36

Why, according to Corvino, does the biblical criticism of homosexual sex fail?

A) The Bible contains errors about other matters and therefore can't be trusted as infallible.
B) The Bible doesn't actually contain explicit prohibition of homosexual sex.
C) It does not consider the context in which the Bible was written.
D) The Bible is never an appropriate source of moral guidance.

Question 37

Why does Corvino rejects the slippery slope argument against homosexual sex?

A) All slippery slope arguments involve fallacies.
B) Homosexual sex shouldn't be prohibited merely because it may have some negative consequences for some people.
C) There are independent reasons for rejecting acts such as incest and bestiality.
D) Slippery slope arguments are always incoherent.

Question 38

Which claim does Corvino make in response to the objection that homosexual sex is harmful?

A) There is nothing inherently risky about sex between persons of the same gender.
B) The behavior of some homosexual people should not be taken to reflect upon all homosexual people.
C) Lesbian sex is actually less risky than heterosexual sex.
D) All of the above

Question 39

According to Corvino, what follows if homosexuality is innate?

A) Homosexual sex is morally required.
B) Homosexual sex is morally permissible.
C) Homosexual sex is not morally permissible.
D) None of the above

Question 40

Expressions of disgust are _______ judgments, according to Corvino?

A) aesthetic
B) moral
C) scientific
D) infallible

Question 41

Why are homosexual relationships good for society, on Corvino's account?

A) They make the individuals in the relationship more productive members of society.
B) They help control the population.
C) They combat bigoted and discriminatory attitudes.
D) They make society aesthetically better.

Question 42

According to Corvino, if homosexual sex is wrong because it violates an organ's principal purpose, then

A) heterosexual sex with contraception is immoral.
B) masturbation is immoral.
C) it is immoral for sterile people to have sex.
D) All of the above

Question 43

Which of the following is not a sense of the word "unnatural" that Corvino considers?

A) Not practiced by other animals
B) Not proceeding from innate desires
C) Contrary to the laws of physics
D) Unusual or abnormal

Question 44

Explain some of the different things someone might mean by saying that a particular behavior is "unnatural." Is homosexual sex "unnatural," by these conditions? If so, does this give us reason to think that it is morally wrong? Why or why not?

Question 45

Explain the case of Tommy and Jim. Why does Corvino think that Tommy and Jim should have sex? Do you think his reasons are good ones? Defend your answer.

Question 46

What is a slippery slope argument? How are slippery slope arguments used in the debate about the morality of homosexual sex? Can slippery slope arguments ever be good arguments? Are there viable slippery slope arguments against homosexual sex?

Question 47

West challenges the idea that sex acts are only morally problematic when they are

A) risky or dangerous.
B) coercive.
C) unnatural.
D) non-monogamous.

Question 48

Which of the following best describes the view of consensual heterosexual acts West defends?

A) All consensual heterosexual acts are harmful to women.
B) Consensual heterosexual acts cannot be harmful to women as long as consent is freely given.
C) Consensual heterosexual acts are harmful to women in many cases.
D) Consensual heterosexual acts are rarely harmful to women.

Question 49

Which of the following is not a reason West gives for why a woman might consent to sex she does not desire?

A) Because she or her children depend on her male partner for economic sustenance
B) Because of intoxication or some other condition that undermines rational decision-making
C) Because she has been taught and has come to believe that it is her "lot in life" to do so
D) Because of peer expectations that she be sexually active

Question 50

How does engaging in unpleasurable, undesired consensual sex injure a woman's sense of selfhood according to West?

A) By injuring a woman's capacity for self-assertion
B) By injuring a woman's capacity for self-possession
C) By injuring a woman's capacity for autonomy
D) All of the above

Question 51

According to West, when women consent to undesired sex because of their dependency upon a partner's affection or economic status, they injure their sense of

A) autonomy.
B) self-possession.
C) integrity.
D) self-assertion.

Question 52

To the extent that a woman falsely claims to have enjoyed unpleasurable and undesired sexual acts, she does considerable damage to her sense of

A) autonomy.
B) self-possession.
C) integrity.
D) self-assertion.

Question 53

According to West, why do the harms of consensual sex frequently go unnoticed or underacknowledged?

A) Because of the significance of liberal theory and ideology in academic life
B) Because of the influence of the exchange theory of value in legal-academic discourse
C) Because of the cultural tendency to equate "legal" with "harmless"
D) All of the above

Question 54

According to West, what is the radical feminist view of sex?

A) All sex is non-consensual.
B) All sex is rape.
C) All non-consensual sex is morally problematic.
D) All of the above

Question 55

According to West, what do liberal and radical feminism have in common?

A) Both embrace Marxism.
B) Both hold that whatever is non-coercive is morally non-problematic.
C) Both valorize ordinary heterosexual transactions.
D) All of the above

Question 56

West argues that liberal feminism undermines the effort to articulate the harms of consensual sex by

A) indirectly celebrating the value of consensual sex.
B) under-appreciating the harms of non-consensual sex.
C) rhetorically denying the existence of consensual sex.
D) All of the above

Question 57

West claims that consensual sex is, in many cases, harmful to women. How does West argue for this claim? Is her argument compelling? Why or why not?

Question 58

West claims that women who engage in undesired, unpleasurable sex may sustain injuries to their sense of selfhood. How does West support this claim? Do you find West's position convincing? Why or why not?

Question 59

West criticizes both liberal and radical feminism. What is the basis of her criticism? Is this criticism compelling in your view? Why or why not?

Question 60

According to _______, it is only a minor wrong to deceive a person into sex by misleading them about certain personal features such as hair color, occupation, or romantic intentions.

A) the Intentions Thesis
B) Dougherty's thesis
C) the Lenient Thesis
D) All of the above

Question 61

Which of the following does Dougherty reject?

A) The Intentions Thesis
B) The Argument from Serious Sexual Wrongs
C) The Lenient Thesis
D) The Argument from Sexual Moralism

Question 62

According to Dougherty, _______ can vitiate consent.

A) coercion
B) deception
C) Both a and b
D) Neither a nor b

Question 63

Dougherty's argument is based on a(n) _______ insight.

A) Kantian
B) contractualist
C) Aristotelian
D) utilitarian

Question 64

According to the _______, sex without consent is seriously wrong because it violates an individual's sexual autonomy.

A) Argument from Serious Sexual Wrongs
B) Argument from a Substantive Account of Consent
C) Argument from Sexual Moralism
D) Rights-Based Argument

Question 65

According to the _______, the absence of consent best explains what is wrong about having sex with an unwilling unconscious person.

A) Argument from Serious Sexual Wrongs
B) Argument from a Substantive Account of Consent
C) Argument from Sexual Moralism
D) Rights-Based Argument

Question 66

Which of the following is not an argument for why the deceived do not give their morally valid consent to sex?

A) The Argument from the Case of the Chihuahua
B) The Harm Explanation
C) The Argument from Sexual Moralism
D) The Argument from a Substantive Account of Consent

Question 67

According to the Argument from Sexual Moralism, the Lenient Thesis rests on an

A) overly permissive conception of sexual autonomy.
B) insufficiently developed theory of moral rights.
C) objectionably moralized conception of sex.
D) All of the above

Question 68

Which of the following is true of "deal-breakers" according to Dougherty's view?

A) They can vary from person to person.
B) They always involve major or "core" aspects of a sexual encounter.
C) They never involve minor or "periphery" aspects of a sexual encounter.
D) All of the above

Question 69

Which of the following can be a "deal-breaker" on Dougherty's view?

A) A person's hair color
B) A person's religion or political beliefs
C) A person's occupation or place of residence
D) All of the above

Question 70

What is the Lenient Thesis? Did you accept the Lenient Thesis before reading Dougherty's article? Do you accept it now? Why or why not?

Question 71

Before defending his claim that deceiving another person into sex is seriously wrong, Dougherty presents two arguments in favor of the view that nonconsensual sex is seriously wrong. What are these two arguments? Are they convincing? Why or why not?

Question 72

Of Dougherty's three arguments, which one makes the most compelling case for the view that deceiving someone into sex vitiates consent? Defend your answer.

Question 73

According to Brake, polyamory is best defined

A) by the formal structure of its relationships.
B) as a sexual orientation.
C) as the adoption and practicing of certain attitudes toward love and sex.
D) All of the above

Question 74

Which of the following values is central to the ethics of polyamory?

A) Non-possessiveness
B) Honesty
C) Communication
D) All of the above

Question 75

According to Brake, polyamory must involve

A) sex.
B) romantic love or affection.
C) Both a and b
D) Neither a nor b

Question 76

The etymology of polyamory is

A) "many marriages."
B) "many loves."
C) "many partners."
D) "many lives."

Question 77

According to _______, sex outside a monogamous marriage is immoral.

A) Kant
B) Aristotle
C) utilitarians
D) All of the above

Question 78

Which of the following is true according to Brake?

A) Love and sex is zero-sum game.
B) Polyamorists are not always open and honest.
C) Everyone, monogamists and polyamorists alike, seeks the same qualities in a relationship.
D) None of the above

Question 79

According to Brake, polyamory is often criticized on the grounds that

A) it is inherently wrong.
B) polyamorous relationships have less value than monogamous relationships.
C) polyamorous relationships have harmful side effects.
D) All of the above

Question 80

Which of the following is not a potential side effect of polyamory that Brake considers?

A) The reinforcement of gender inequalities
B) The over-sexualization of popular culture
C) Jealousy among partners
D) Conflict and unfair treatment within relationships