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A Moral Defense of Prostitution

  • Book
  • © 2021

Overview

Authors:
  1. Rob Lovering

    1. College of Staten Island, City University of New York, New York, USA

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  • Defends the claim that prostitution is not immoral
  • Provides a critique of twenty arguments against the morality of prostitution
  • Presents a clear framework for philosophical reasoning
  • Offers counterarguments for the moral permissibility of prostitution

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Table of contents (5 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Preliminaries

    • Rob Lovering
    Pages 1-49

  3. Two Arguments for Prostitution

    • Rob Lovering
    Pages 51-82

  4. Consequentialist Arguments Against Prostitution

    • Rob Lovering
    Pages 83-207

  5. Nonconsequentialist Arguments Against Prostitution

    • Rob Lovering
    Pages 209-325

  6. Religious Arguments Against Prostitution

    • Rob Lovering
    Pages 327-382

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 383-408
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Keywords

About this book

Is prostitution immoral? In this book, Rob Lovering argues that it is not. Offering a careful and thorough critique of the many—twenty, to be exact—arguments for prostitution's immorality, Lovering leaves no claim unchallenged. Drawing on the relevant literature along with his own creative thinking, Lovering offers a clear and reasoned moral defense of the world's oldest profession. Lovering demonstrates convincingly, on both consequentialist and nonconsequentialist grounds, that there is nothing immoral about prostitution between consenting adults. The legal implications of this view are also brought to bear on the current discourse surrounding this controversial topic. 

Reviews

"The enjoyment of sexual pleasure can contribute greatly to a person’s happiness. Prostitution, in providing opportunities for such pleasure, should therefore be viewed as an admirable profession that makes a very welcome contribution to human society. Instead, prostitutes are looked down upon, and prostitution is illegal in many countries and most of the United States. Why is this the case? The reason is that many people are in the grip of unsound arguments that lead them to think that prostitution is morally wrong. Rob Lovering’s book is a welcome correction. Not only is it the first book to survey the wide variety of arguments for the immorality of prostitution, it also sets out—in an admirably clear and accurate fashion—each of the important arguments that have been offered for this view, and then shows convincingly in each case why the argument in question is unsound." (Michael Tooley, former president of The Australasian Association of Philosophy and President and TheAmerican Philosophical Association - Pacific Division) 

"The view that prostitution is immoral is taken for granted by most people worldwide. Scholars, policy makers, and the media rarely question prostitution's moral status, even if they support attempts to legalize it. In his unique book, Rob Lovering offers a tour-de-force analysis of this question. By systematically critiquing the conventional arguments and assumptions, he provides nothing short of a paradigm shift in how we conceptualize prostitution. A ground-breaking book that will help to destigmatize sex work." (Ronald Weitzer, author of Sex for Sale: Prostitution, Pornography, and the Sex Industry)

"Morality politics are wedded to debates about prostitution. This book tackles the arguments against prostitution head on, delving deeply into the intricate yet everyday contestations. Logical arguments that interrogate the moral status of prostitution are important for the sex worker rights movement, and ultimately speaks against the stigmatization of sex workers. This book provides fresh analysis, powerful persuasion and a suite of armor against claims that immorality is intrinsic to prostitution. Useful for activists, policymakers and scholars alike, this extensive coverage of age-old arguments enables critical engagement with ideas which are too often taken for granted." (Teela Sanders, author of Sex Work: A Risky Business)  

"Lovering’s book is an important examination of the moral status of prostitution, apart from its legal or prudential profile. This matters. Social perfectionist arguments are used to advance a range of political agendas. History is rife with examples of moral arguments about prostitution being deployed in the service of temperance, eugenics, and nativism. Lovering elucidates the weaknesses of such arguments.​" (Jessica Spector, author of Prostitution and Pornography: Philosophical Debate about the Sex Industry)

Authors and Affiliations

  • College of Staten Island, City University of New York, New York, USA

    Rob Lovering

About the author

Rob Lovering is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the City University of New York, College of Staten Island, USA. He is the author of God and Evidence: Problems for Theistic Philosophers (2013) and A Moral Defense of Recreational Drug Use (2015).

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: A Moral Defense of Prostitution

  • Authors: Rob Lovering

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75863-9

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-75862-2Published: 10 July 2021

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-75865-3Published: 10 July 2022

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-75863-9Published: 09 July 2021

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: X, 408

  • Topics: Moral Philosophy, Gender, Sexuality and Law, Sexual Behavior

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