Secular and Religious Perspectives on Prostitution
Question:
Is prostitution morally permissible? Answer with reference to at least two competing moral viewpoints (e.g. liberal, Marxist, radical feminist, consequentialist, virtue ethicist, Kantian) on the topic.
There are several arguments and contrary viewpoints in relation to whether prostitution is permissible morally or not. These arguments range from the secular to the religious aspect of the issue. The concept of prostitution is seen as taboo or a sin and is often strictly prohibited in many countries. One of the reasons for such understanding in relation to the issue is the religious influences on matters of prostitution. However in the contemporary western society religion does not play a significant role as its used to in relation to determining whether a concept should be morally permissible or not. Therefore it would be only appropriate to talk about secular viewpoints in relation to the concept of prostitution. As time progresses, the modern society along with the concept of secularism is becoming more and more liberal where the concept of homosexuality has also been legalized in many western countries. The concept of prostitution is not considered as a taboo in relation to its discussion or practice. Although it has become a social norm, the fact does not have any relation towards finding the moral permissibility of the concept (Shrage 2013).
The paper in the first place evaluates the consequentialist viewpoint which argues against the concept of prostitution in the light of a few other viewpoints such as virtue ethics and feminism to provide support to the consequentialist viewpoint. The paper then argues in favor of the concept of prostitution in the light of liberal perspective and providing support to it through functionalism. The paper considers both for and against arguments and provides criticism towards analyzing which of the arguments is stronger and therefore determine the debate of prostitution positively.
The consequentialist approach which is also known as utilitarianism evaluates the effects of a practice towards analyzing the morality associated with it. Whether the practice can be said to be morally permissible or not is determined based on the level of overall happiness the practice provides. It has been argue by Lewis and Ellis (2015) that the effects of the practice has to be visible and string evidence so that an appropriate conclusion is drawn. Soble (1980) state that there is no immediate prominent and significant consequence of the practice of prostitution and thus the prolonged consequences of the sexual act has to be taken into consideration. Sexual objectification of women is one of the most visible consequences of the act. The use of female prostitutes is limited to utilizing her body towards getting sexual satisfaction only (Vannoy, 1980). There is no respect, modesty, honor or love which acts as a part of the process and thus it is only about sex and money.
Consequentialist Viewpoint on Prostitution
The preposition is also agreed by virtue ethics viewpoint which states that in order to be moral sex has to be done in the context of kindness, honesty and love. Sex is not to be performed in the context of infidelity, greed or disrespect like in the case off prostitution. This viewpoint is not only conservative but also modern in a sense where phrases like “making love” or novels and movies which often include sex in the story. It is also a fact that most of the men and women are against something like infidelity. Feminist also do not support the practice of prostitution and find it as morally impermissible as it is not about sex but about degrading the position of women in the society. Many men who have sex with prostitutes would deny that this is a radical view. On the other hand the followers of feminism are making efforts to find the underlining reason why men are habituated with sex and argue that this is the degradation of women. Something is better than nothing which already might have picked up the meaning of prostitution used here is that it makes mandatory being a women, which is the meaning as per feminism as male prostitutes are merely taking part in a female gendered role. Extended effects also consist of family and domestic problems for such people who often indulge in sexual activities with prostitutes along with psychological problems for prostitutes themselves.
Most of the discussed effects and consequences may be countered through stating that if these effects are deemed to be true it cannot be stated that all kind of prostitution may harm the society. The viewpoint would make a proposal towards regulating brothels and raising awareness between men and women in relation to the detriments of this concept in the same way like smoking and gambling along with other injurious activities within the society (Euchner and Knill 2015). As argued by Tannahill (1996) where one danger to the society is to be made illegal than in the same way other similar dangers also have to be made illegal. Therefore the question which arises is that when prostitution is made illegal should the other evils discussed above also made illegal. A supporter of the liberal society may argue against the consequentialist approach by stating that no room is left by such application in relation to the freedom of rights and choice which do not indulge with other wellbeing. Awareness should be raised among the people in relation to the practice of prostitution and the choice whether people want to indulge in the activity or not has to be left to the people (Lee 2015).
Virtue Ethics Viewpoint on Prostitution
A functionalist perspective is taken by liberalism towards providing an argument in favor of moral permissibility of prosecution. Prostitution is needed by the society in a way as men are provided with legal options to fulfill their sexual desires with regards to a mutual agreement between them and the prostitutes. The perspective of utilitranianism also in a way provides arguments in favor of and against the moral permissibility of prostitution. It has been thought by contemporary science that there is a significant proof psychological process in relation to sexual activities. For instance Dopamine which is also known as the “Happy hormone” is released when people have sex. In addition to Dopamine other hormones which trigger happiness is also released when people indulge in activities like smoking, drugs and listening to music which are also a form of pleasure. As stated by O’neill (2013) there are two types of pleasure namely lower and higher pleasure.
When the question is about having sex with the intent of making love this accounts to high pleasure and on the other hand having sex only in relation to lust results in low pleasure. Arguments can be provided by ethicists that higher pleasure is permissible morally on the basis that it is done for the purpose of achieving love. On the other hand if it is in relation to lust than it is viewed as other kind of pleasures which are unique to certain people such as incest, paedophilia and rape, thus as prostitution results in a lower form of pleasure it has to be regarded not morally permissible. According to the viewpoint of deontologists it would be argued that functionalist perspective is not correct in relation to morality of prostitution. There would be an argument provided that men should irrespective of a sexual desire at no cost disrespect women as in this case prostitution. However then they also have to provide argument that men should not indulge in gambling and there should be no smoking in the society as these activities also cause significant discomfort within the society (Sanders, O’Neill and Pitcher 2017).
It has been provided by (Norma 2012) that sex workers are at the bottom of the ladder when it comes to social networks, education and personal assets, through the process of prostitution they are provided with an opportunity to enhance their lives and probably give their children a better chance to survive in the society. Although those who argue against the moral permissibility of prostitution keep on stating that the practice is not good for the society and is disrespectful towards the women, they do not provide any alternative recommendation to enhance the life of such women. In addition the recommendations which are provided by him towards putting the women in government hostels is far from practical as living standards in such places are low and they are not enough to accommodate all those who are into the practice. As argued by Simmel (1978) money is the essence of prostitution and therefore as there is no other option available to those in this practice to make money due the lack of social network and education they have to chose the path.
Therefore upon the comparison of both consequentialist as well as the liberal perspective it can be stated that the liberal perspective provides for a stronger argument in the situation of the contemporary society. This is because it has to be the arguments provided by the liberal perspective are more practical in nature and in relation to the understanding of the current situation of the society. Those who are into this practice should be made aware of the consequences associated with prostitution and then the decision is to be left to them whether to decide that they want to indulge the decision or not.
References
Euchner, E.M. and Knill, C., 2015. Prostitution: Sin, unavoidable evil or recognized profession. On the road to permissiveness? Change and convergence of moral regulation in Europe, pp.129-157.
Lee, C., 2015. Policing Prostitution, 1856–1886: Deviance, Surveillance and Morality. Routledge.
Lewis, A. and Ellis, M. eds., 2015. Prostitution and eighteenth-century culture: sex, commerce and morality. Routledge.
Norman. C., (2012) Prostitution Narratives: Stories of Survival in the Sex Trade. Spinifex Press
O’neill, M., 2013. Prostitution and feminism: Towards a politics of feeling. John Wiley & Sons.
Russell, V., 1980. Sex without Love: A Philosophical Exploration. Buffalo-New York: Prometheus Books.
Sanders, T., O’Neill, M. and Pitcher, J., 2017. Prostitution: Sex work, policy & politics. Sage.
Shrage, L., 2013. Moral dilemmas of feminism: Prostitution, adultery, and abortion. Routledge.
Simmel. G., (1978) Chapter 5: The Money Equivalent of Personal Values by Georg Simmel, in The Philosophy of Money. (Routledge, London, England, 1978). pp. 355-428.
Soble, A. ed., 2002. The philosophy of sex: Contemporary readings. Rowman & Littlefield.
Tannahill, Reay. Sex in history, rev. and updated ed. (1996). Abacus
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