Philosophy 197S - ST- Sexual Ethics

What is required for someone to count as having consented to sex? Is it possible for someone who is intoxicated to consent? What?s going on when power relations seem to undermine consent? Is consent all you need for sex to be permissible, or can it sometimes be impermissible even with consent? Is there anything wrong with prostitution? Pornography? What is sexual harassment, and what makes it so bad? These are some of the questions we?ll be discussing in this course, and we?ll be looking for answers through frequent readings (some philosophical, and some not); short, weekly writing assignments; three short papers; and lots of class discussion. The goals of this course are not only for you to learn more about some of the nuances in the discussion of sexual ethics, but also to become better at reading technical, philosophical work; to become better at expressing your own ideas (both verbally and in writing); and to find new ways of thinking about and understanding your own experiences and relationships by applying the ideas we discuss to your life.