Christopher Boorse On Homosexuality

In the United States in 1955, homosexuality was included in the second edition of the DSM as a disorder of sexual deviance with grounds for psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. This manual was distributed to psychiatrists and other medical professionals for their clinical use. Many Americans believed that homosexual individuals were abnormal, perverted, and had a mental disorder. Homosexuality was stigmatized and homophobia was prevalent. According to Christopher Boorse and his naturalist theory, homosexuality was a disease and still is a disease because it prevents reproduction. From a social constructionist point of view, homosexuality was invented as a disorder due to the societal values of the time. In my opinion, sexual orientation cannot
Boorse’s methodology to define each of these states stems from his position as a naturalist, while comparing his views against a normative argument. Naturalists look to physiology, functionality, individual symptoms, and the ability to survive and reproduce (Boorse 82). The naturalist camp pursues a descriptive and objective argument when diagnosing conditions. Boorse, as a naturalist, believes that in terms of being healthy versus having a disease, the most important things are the facts and remaining objective (Boorse 78). The other type of argument that Boorse presents, although does not believe, is a normative argument. The normative determination of health is explicitly value-based and considers the undesirability of the condition (Boorse 79). Naturalists, like Boorse, utilize the term disease over illness to avoid the inherent value judgements that accompany the usage of illness to describe a condition. A normativist uses the term illness for exactly this reason; to define conditions based on values (Boorse 81-82). For simplicity, a disorder can be equated with a disease as the DSM uses disorder in reference to homosexuality, whereas Boorse utilizes disease when determining health objectively. Boorse’s naturalist argument is objective because it only focuses on the facts and specifics of the condition, while avoiding convoluted value judgments and societal norms. Through this objective approach, Boorse uses two guidelines to determine if a condition is a disease or not. Boorse states that if functionality of an organ or person is inhibited, or the condition prevents survival and/or reproduction, then it is a disease (Boorse 82). Boorse’s argument of a disease being something that prevents survival or reproduction causes homosexuality to be deemed a disease. This decision agreed with the DSM of 1955, which