Catholic sexual ethics are as fully reasonable today as they were in the time of St Paul. In fact, the natural law understanding of human fulfillment is inherently intelligible eve
There is a general form of reasoning to which I shall give the name argumentum ad consummationem, which runs as follows. Major premise: Sexual attraction and love are determinants
In some ways the teaching of the Catholic Church on sexual ethics is well known. Most people know what the Church teaches. Her basic teaching is this: one can rightly choose to exe
Sex has received little attention in the history of western philosophy, and what it did receive was not good: Plato denigrated it, arguing that it should lead to something higher
Ethical discussions of sexual morality focus on two related questions. The first is about the contents of sexual morality: what is right and wrong, morally good or bad, in relation
The philosophy of sexuality, like the philosophy of science, art or law, is the study of the concepts and propositions surrounding its central protagonist, in this case ‘sex’.
Among the many difficulties parents encounter today, despite different social contexts, one certainly stands out: giving children an adequate preparation for adult life, particular
According to contemporary scientific research, the human person is so profoundly affected by sexuality that it must be considered as one of the factors which give to each individua
There are two broad ethical approaches to sexual matters. The first and older one, long associated with but not exclusive to ‘natural law’ traditions, argues that the very nature of sexual activity makes it highly morally significant. It is the means by which human life is reproduced, involving the most intimate interaction between male and female of the species. This view links reproduction, emotional and physical intimacy, and sexual complementarity, and argues that sex should be placed within these boundaries, thereby rejecting casual, promiscuous, resolutely non-reproductive activity. The second approach rejects the idea that there is anything about sex as such that implies a special morality governing it. The only values are ones relevant to human interactions more generally: they should be consensual, non-abusive, and non-exploitative, but this is compatible with non-heterosexual, multi-partner and causal encounters. At the core of these differences are understandings about human nature including the meaning of sexual identity.