Ethics and Pornography

Ethics and Pornography

The rapid advances of technology have revolutionized the information world. With features such as internet, digital cameras, etc…, technology has provided a common ground for people all over the world. Things that were manually required and a wide variety of entertainment have all become accessible features with the click of a button. Technology has lowered all communications’ barriers and by doing so, simultaneously created one of the greatest controversial subjects in the American society today. In majority, internet has facilitated the growth of pornography through free websites that pornography used as a widespread business strategy. Thus, what was once a quite subject suddenly became a national debate between the industry of pornography and the society. In the rage of the ongoing debate, it is essential that we examine the question of pornography from an ethical point of view. What makes �adult’ pornography an ethical dilemma?

First of all, pornography may be broadly defined as “inappropriate sexually explicit material”. As the definition indicates, pornography has in common human sexuality which has been one of topic the most explored topic, both by philosophers and people in society. As Maguire states, sex has always been a scale of moral measurement. вЂ?Even if people did not leave by the moral standards’, she says, вЂ?sex was clearly a moral matterвЂ"that is, a matter on which moral judgment could be passed.’ As such, pornography which constitutes the exposition of a sexual act can be considered a matter of moral deviance or morally correct. So what makes pornography morally impermissible in the views of numerous groups in America?

According to Maguire, “ethics provide a method for judging these and other realities right now.” Thus, what is the determining factor in America that classifies pornography as morally wrong? As it could be the case in other country, religion and conservative ideals, although declining now, has a strong influence on America’s moral agenda and views on what is a good society. Various religious groups condemn the viewing of pornography for different reasons. Some believes that sexual intercourse is limited to the express function of procreation, which in the case of pornography, a sex-oriented