Sexual Ethics in a Secular Age by Eric Silverman

Sexual Ethics in a Secular Age by Eric Silverman

This collection features essays from top experts in ethics and philosophy of love that offer varying perspectives on the value of a contemporary secular virtue of chastity.

The virtue of chastity has traditionally been portrayed as an excellent personal disposition concerning the ideal ordering of sexual desire such that the person desires that which is actually good for both the self and others affected by his or her sexual desires and actions. Yet, for roughly the past half century chastity has been increasingly portrayed as an unnecessary ideal with few secular benefits that could not be otherwise obtained. Instead, chastity is sometimes portrayed as an odd kind of religious asceticism with few secular benefits. The essays in this volume ask whether there may be advantages to reconsidering a contemporary virtue of chastity. A recovered and reconceptualized concept of chastity can offer partial solutions to problems associated with externalized sexual desire, including sweeping patterns of sexual harassment, the high divorce/relationship-failure rate, and widespread pornography use.

Sexual Ethics in a Secular Age will appeal to researchers and advanced students interested in the philosophy of sex and love, virtue ethics, and philosophical accounts of secularity.

"Chastity is a virtue easily misunderstoodTo a secular ear it sounds outdated, old-fashioned, and paternalistic. This collection of essays offers a fresh and valuable perspective on the virtue of chastity in a secular age. The contributors provide insightful positions on the strengths and weaknesses of chastity while elucidating its role as a guiding virtue for sexual activity." – Audra Goodnight, Villanova University, USA

Eric J. Silverman is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Christopher Newport University. He has written two monographs: The Supremacy of Love: An Agape Centered Vision of Aristotelian Virtue Ethics (2019) and The Prudence of Love: How Possessing the Virtue of Love Benefits the Agent (2010). He has also co-edited Paradise Understood: New Philosophical Essays About Heaven (2017).