Alan Soble

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Alan Soble

Alan Soble (born March 4, 1947 in Philadelphia ) is an American philosopher and mainly deals with the philosophy of sexuality .

Soble received his bachelor's degree in biology from Albright College in Pennsylvania in 1969 and studied pharmacology and philosophy at the University at Buffalo . From 1986 to 2006 he was Professor of Philosophy at the University of New Orleans . After the destruction of Hurricane Katrina , Soble retired and moved back to Pennsylvania.

Philosophy of sexuality

Human sexuality is an old theme of philosophy, and sexual ethical considerations in particular can be found in many classical texts such as the Nicomachean ethics of Aristotle , Summa contra gentiles of Thomas Aquinas or the metaphysics of morals by Immanuel Kant . The philosophy of sexuality has only developed into an independent discipline in the last few decades, also under the influence of Soble. He is the founder of the Society for the Philosophy of Sex & Love , editor of the classic collection of essays Philosophy of Sex (it appeared in its fifth edition in 2007 after 27 years) and author of the introductory work The Philosophy of Sex and Love .

The development of the philosophy of sexuality in Soble can be traced back to various intellectual movements of the 20th century. Initially, under the influence of Michel Foucault, sexuality and gender became a central theme of post-structuralist philosophy. Foucault's thoughts were taken up and further developed in feminist philosophy by women philosophers like Judith Butler . Appropriate approaches are characterized by the fact that they analyze sexuality not only as a limited aspect of human needs. Rather, sexuality is viewed as a central element of social power relations. In the theory of science and the history of science , too, there has been a stronger engagement with sexual and life science topics in recent decades, while physics and mathematics were the undisputed leading sciences in the first half of the 20th century . Historians of science such as Thomas Laqueur and Londa Schiebinger meet with post-structuralist philosophers who claim to regard theories of sexuality as historical constructs that can only be understood in a cultural context. Finally, sexuality has also become a theme in analytical philosophy , influential publications include The Examined Life by Robert Nozick and “Sexual Perversion” by Thomas Nagel . Soble's publications cannot be classified into one of these traditions, rather he tries to combine the various approaches into a comprehensive philosophy of sexuality.

According to Soble, one can roughly distinguish between different sub-areas of the philosophy of sexuality. First of all, the lack of clarity in central concepts such as “sexual activity” necessitates a careful analysis of the terms. Many actions (such as holding hands or a kiss) are polisemantic and could be sexual or asexual depending on the context. It is therefore not possible to define “sexual activity” in terms of a clearly defined number of actions. It is also difficult to trace back sexual activity to sexual desire . On the one hand, there could be sexual acts without sexual desire; on the other hand, it is also not clear whether sexual desire can always be clearly distinguished from other forms of desire. Corresponding problems suggest, according to Soble, that there is no sharp definition of “sexual activity” at all and that the area of ​​sexuality varies with the cultural context.

Another branch of the philosophy of sexuality concerns normative questions, in particular sexual ethics and sexual politics. This raises the question of which forms of sexual activity are to be regarded as morally legitimate and when social sanctions are appropriate. Typical topics are the evaluation of prostitution , pornography and the question of sexual perversion . Among other things, this raises the question of what consequences the application of influential philosophical ethics (such as utilitarianism or Kantian ethics) leads to.

Finally, Soble occasionally speaks of a “ metaphysics of sexuality”, which poses the question of the fundamental evaluation of sexuality and thus links it to the classic philosophical theme of the good life . A rough distinction can be made between sexual pessimists (according to Soble about Augustine and Kant) and sexual optimists (according to Soble about Plato and Russell). Pessimists view sexual activity as problematic because it often or always undermines people's dignity . For example, sexuality would make other people objects of one's own desire and thus a means of personal satisfaction. However, this is problematic because people should never be instrumentalized, but always viewed as purposes themselves. In addition, some sexual pessimists argue that sexual urges distract from, or even conflict with, the actually important human goals (such as moral action or the search for truth). In contrast, sexual optimists argue that sexuality can be an important element in a happy life without harming another person. In addition, sexual activity enables interpersonal closeness and understanding in a unique way and is therefore valuable from a eudaimonic and epistemic perspective.

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  1. ^ Robert Nozick: The examined life: philosophical meditations. Simon & Schuster, 1989, ISBN 0-671-72501-7 .
  2. ↑ Thomas Nagel: Sexual Perversion. In: The Journal of Philosophy. 1969.
  3. ^ Alan Soble: The Philosophy of Sex and Love: An Introduction. Paragon House, 1998, ISBN 1-55778-716-6 , p. 15.
  4. ^ Alan Soble:  Philosophy of Sexuality. In: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy .

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personal data
SURNAME Soble, Alan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American philosopher and sexologist
DATE OF BIRTH March 4, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia