Critically Examine How Ethical Theories

Critically examine how ethical theories approach issues surrounding pornography
There are many ethical theories which can be applied to the ethics concerning pornography however I believe the easiest ethical theories for giving a clear cut between what is acceptable and what is not are the absolutist theories or the ones with Absolutist rules such as Kantian Ethics or Natural Moral Law. Pornography is a form of media which is sexually stimulating for the observer. The ethical situations surrounding pornography are that of the reason for committing these sexual acts from the actors points of views in the case of adult actors and from the observers point of view in which the porn is made for. Natural Moral Law is the simplest ethical theory to use arguably for any ethical theory and this does not exclude pornography. Its clear cut primary precepts allow for easy analysis of a situation. Pornography would be against the Reproduction primary precept as porn isn’t with the intention of reproduction. The living in society primary precept would also be broken as, from the viewers point of view, generally you are alone cut off from society when watching porn as porn is a taboo subject. Although Natural moral Law gives this clear cut view it does have its weakness of effectively saying no to all manner of situations without actually analyzing what is happening in the situation to a personal level. Kant I feel takes the situation of sex to a more personal level as he states sex is only allowed when serving a greater goal, such as marriage. However he also believes that sexual acts are wrong in themselves as in effect you are having sex in order to satisfy your own pleasure and this may well be true in today’s view on what sex is but this is not true on the more traditional view on sex. However today’s view on sex is effectively what happens in porn films as actors on camera have sex for pleasure, although this is arguable as they may in fact not experience