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Single Idea 23113
[filed under theme 25. Social Practice / F. Life Issues / 5. Sexual Morality
]
Full Idea
A moral tradition need not be committed to monogamy, but it must regulate sexual conduct to prevent inbreeding, protect the sexually immature, prohibit some forms of coercion, and assign responsibility for raising children.
Gist of Idea
Sexual morality doesn't require monogamy, but it needs a group of sensible regulations
Source
John Kekes (Against Liberalism [1997], 08.1)
Book Ref
Kekes,John: 'Against Liberalism' [Cornell 1997], p.163
A Reaction
Wise words, I would say. The sexual liberation which arose with the contraceptive pill rather swamped thoughts of this type. These are just sensible responses to the facts of life.
The
65 ideas
from John Kekes
23079
|
Liberal justice ignores desert, which is the essence of justice
[Kekes]
|
23083
|
Liberal welfare focuses on need rather than desert
[Kekes]
|
23081
|
Liberal basics are pluralism, freedom, rights, equality, and distributive justice - for autonomy
[Kekes]
|
23082
|
Liberal distribution cares more about recipients than donors
[Kekes]
|
23084
|
Are egalitarians too coercive, or not egalitarian enough, or lax over morality?
[Kekes]
|
23085
|
The key liberal values are explained by the one core value, which is autonomy
[Kekes]
|
23086
|
Liberals say we are only responsible for fully autonomous actions
[Kekes]
|
23087
|
Much human evil is not autonomous, so moral responsibility need not be autonomous
[Kekes]
|
23088
|
Evil is not deviation from the good, any more than good is a deviation from evil
[Kekes]
|
23089
|
Evil people may not be autonomously aware, if they misjudge the situation
[Kekes]
|
23090
|
Liberals assume people are naturally free, equal, rational, and morally good
[Kekes]
|
23091
|
Why do liberals not see a much wider range of values as basic?
[Kekes]
|
23092
|
Agents have little control over the capacities needed for liberal autonomy
[Kekes]
|
23093
|
Moral and causal responsibility are not clearly distinct
[Kekes]
|
23096
|
Morality should aim to prevent all evil actions, not just autonomous ones
[Kekes]
|
23094
|
Ought implies can means moral responsibility needs autonomy
[Kekes]
|
23095
|
Why should moral responsibility depend on autonomy, rather than social role or experience?
[Kekes]
|
23097
|
What matters for morality is the effects of action, not the psychological causes
[Kekes]
|
23098
|
Effects show the existence of moral responsibility, and mental states show the degree
[Kekes]
|
23099
|
It is said that if an agent is not autonomous then their evil actions don't reflect on their character
[Kekes]
|
23100
|
Collective responsibility conflicts with responsibility's requirement of authonomy
[Kekes]
|
23101
|
Intuitions don't prove things; they just receptivity to interpretations
[Kekes]
|
23102
|
Liberals are egalitarians, but in varying degrees
[Kekes]
|
23103
|
Power is meant to be confined to representatives, and subsequent delegation
[Kekes]
|
23105
|
It is not deplorable that billionaires have more than millionaires
[Kekes]
|
23106
|
To rectify the undeserved equality, we should give men longer and women shorter lives
[Kekes]
|
23108
|
Justice combines consistency and desert; treat likes alike, judging likeness by desert
[Kekes]
|
23107
|
Prosperity is a higher social virtue than justice
[Kekes]
|
23109
|
The veil of ignorance is only needed because people have bad motivations
[Kekes]
|
23112
|
Liberals ignore contingency, and think people are good and equal, and institutions cause evil
[Kekes]
|
23113
|
Sexual morality doesn't require monogamy, but it needs a group of sensible regulations
[Kekes]
|
23114
|
The chief function of the state is to arbitrate between contending visions of the good life
[Kekes]
|
23118
|
Awareness of others' suffering doesn't create an obligation to help
[Kekes]
|
23116
|
Citizenship is easier than parenthood
[Kekes]
|
23117
|
Love should be partial, and discriminate in favour of its object
[Kekes]
|
23119
|
Sentimental love distorts its object
[Kekes]
|
23120
|
The problem is basic insufficiency of resources, not their inequality
[Kekes]
|
23121
|
It is just a fact that some people are morally better than others
[Kekes]
|
19738
|
Values are an attempt to achieve well-being by bringing contingencies under control
[Kekes]
|
20145
|
Values help us to control life, by connecting it to what is stable and manageable
[Kekes]
|
20146
|
'Luck' is the unpredictable and inexplicable intersection of causal chains
[Kekes]
|
20148
|
Equal distribution is no good in a shortage, because there might be no one satisfied
[Kekes]
|
20149
|
To control our actions better, make them result from our attitudes, not from circumstances
[Kekes]
|
20150
|
There are far more values than we can pursue, so they are optional possibilities
[Kekes]
|
20151
|
Our attitudes include what possibilities we value, and also what is allowable, and unthinkable
[Kekes]
|
20152
|
Unconditional commitments are our most basic convictions, saying what must never be done
[Kekes]
|
20153
|
Doing the unthinkable damages ourselves, so it is more basic than any value
[Kekes]
|
20154
|
Control is the key to well-being
[Kekes]
|
20155
|
Society is alienating if it lacks our values, and its values repel us
[Kekes]
|
20156
|
We are bound to regret some values we never aspired to
[Kekes]
|
20157
|
Well-being needs correct attitudes and well-ordered commitments to local values
[Kekes]
|
20158
|
Innumerable values arise for us, from our humanity, our culture, and our individuality
[Kekes]
|
20159
|
Cultural values are interpretations of humanity, conduct, institutions, and evaluations
[Kekes]
|
20161
|
The big value problems are evil (humanity), disenchantment (cultures), and boredom (individuals)
[Kekes]
|
20162
|
Evil isn't explained by nature, by monsters, by uncharacteristic actions, or by society
[Kekes]
|
20164
|
The ideal of an ideology is embodied in a text, a role model, a law of history, a dream of the past...
[Kekes]
|
20163
|
Ideologies have beliefs about reality, ideals, a gap with actuality, and a program
[Kekes]
|
20165
|
Reason and morality do not coincide; immorality can be reasonable, with an ideology
[Kekes]
|
20169
|
An action may be intended under one description, but not under another
[Kekes]
|
20170
|
Responsibility is unprovoked foreseeable harm, against society, arising from vicious character
[Kekes]
|
20171
|
Practical reason is not universal and impersonal, because it depends on what success is
[Kekes]
|
20172
|
Boredom destroys our ability to evaluate
[Kekes]
|
20173
|
Boredom is apathy and restlessness, yearning for something interesting
[Kekes]
|
20174
|
Relativists say all values are relative; pluralists concede much of that, but not 'human' values
[Kekes]
|
20175
|
If morality has to be rational, then moral conflicts need us to be irrational and immoral
[Kekes]
|