Sexual ethics is a branch of applied ethics that concentrates on sexual behaviour and relationships. It can be either theoretical or applied, while theoretical approach aims to find universal principles and methods of solving ethical problems, and applied approach deals with individual cases, professional ethics or sexual politics.
Basic questions of sexual ethics are
1) what kinds of sexual acts are morally acceptable, and
2) what are justified grounds for banning certain acts?
Answering these questions should be based on a philosophically sound system of sexual ethics, which consist of coherent definitions, principles and methods that can be used to assess the ethical status of any sexual act.
The system must be general enough to adapt to differing situations and circumstances, hence it must be derived from ethical theory concerning human interaction in general. My research is based on John Stuart Mill's ethical liberalism, which argues that there is only one plausible moral principle: no one has the right to intervene into individual's affairs if they are not harmful to others.
In this framework sexual activities are seen as morally neutral, therefore ethical evaluation doesn't depend on the question, whether an act is sexual or not. Instead, it is based on assessing whether the act causes harm or violates someone's rights. This position leads consistently to appreciating human autonomy, freedom, rights and sexual diversity.
Recorded June 12 – 16, 2011 at the 20th WAS World Congress for Sexual Health
Forging the Future: Sexual Health for the 21th Century, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Visit The World Association Of Sexual Health at http://www.worldsexology.org
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