Pornography

Abstract Everyday and philosophical debates concerning pornography are fraught with many difficult questions. These include: What is pornography? What does pornography do (if anything at all)? Is the consumption of pornography a harmless private matter, or does pornography violate women’s civil rights? What, if anything, should legally be done about pornography? Can there be feminist pornography? Answering these questions is complicated by confusion over the conceptual and political commitments of different anti- and pro-pornography positions, and whether these positions are even in tension with one another: different people understand the concept of pornography differently and easily end up talking past one another. This book provides an opinionated and accessible introduction to contemporary philosophical debates on pornography, which will be conducted from a feminist perspective. The book’s starting point is morally neutral, and it provides a comprehensive discussion of various philosophical positions on pornography that are found in ethics, aesthetics, feminist philosophy, political philosophy, epistemology, and social ontology. Topics include: whether pornography subordinates and silences women; free speech versus hate speech; whether pornography produces a distinct kind of knowledge; whether it objectifies and if so, in what sense; how should we think about the aesthetics of pornography; what difference do nonheteronormative, female-friendly and/or queer pornography make to philosophical debates. The book clarifies different stances in the debate, thus helping readers to understand what is at stake in philosophical examinations of pornography. In so doing, it also offers readers important methodological insights about doing philosophical work on something so this-worldly as pornography.