Pedophilia and Adult-Child Sex: A Philosophical Analysis

by Stephen Kershnar

Overview

This book provides a philosophical analysis of adult–child sex and pedophilia. It looks at how the law should respond to such sex given the above analyses.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498504461
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	05/20/2015
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Stephen Kershnar is professor of philosophy at the State University of New York at Fredonia.

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Adult–Child Sex, Pedophilia, and Hebophilia
Chapter Two: Disease
Chapter Three: Adult–Child Sex and Backward-Looking Reasons
Chapter Four: How Consent Works
Chapter Five: Exploitation
Chapter Six: Adult–Child Sex and Forward-Looking Reasons
Chapter Seven: Pedophilic Fantasies
Chapter Eight: Criminalization

Editorial Reviews

Stephen Kershnar's latest book will be relevant to anyone interested in the ethics of interacting with children, the ethics of sex, and, needless to say, the ethics of sex with children. Plausibly maintaining that emotional reactions of disgust and knee-jerk appeals to intuition are not enough to ground normative judgment, Kershnar engages in a comprehensive and thorough philosophical discussion of various facets of adult-child sex. He provides plausible conceptual analyses of key concepts, usefully distinguishes between various kinds of adult-child sex (depending on the nature of the parties, the use of force, the infliction of pain, and so on), and advances thoughtful—albeit controversial—answers to the questions of whether and when adult-child sex is an instance of mental illness, wrong action, or bad character.

Thaddeus Metz