Just Love A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics

by Farley, Margaret

• ISBN13: 9780826429247
• ISBN10: 0826429246
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781441103147
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-02-15
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• More Book Details

Summary

This long-awaited book by one of American Christianity's foremost ethicists proposes a framework for sexual ethics whereby justice is the criterion for all loving, including love that is related to sexual activity and relationships. It begins with historical and cross-cultural explorations, then addresses the large questions of embodiment, gender, and sexuality, and finally delineates the justice framework for sexual ethics. Though Just Love's particular focus is Christian sexual ethics, Farley's framework is broad enough to have relevance for multiple traditions. Also covered are specific issues in sexual ethics, including same-sex relationships, marriage and family, divorce and second marriage, celibacy, and sex and its negativities.

Author Biography

Margaret A. Farley taught at Yale University Divinity School from 1971 to 2007, where she held the Gilbert L. Stark Chair in Christian Ethics. She is past president of both the Society of Christian Ethics and the Catholic Theological Society of America, and a recipient of the latter's John Courtney Murray Award

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Opening the Questions	p. 1
Finding the Way	p. 2
Why We Are Here	p. 3
New Maps	p. 8
Problems with the Terrain	p. 12
The Task	p. 15
The Questions and Their Past	p. 17
Sex, Morality, and History: Theories of Interpretation	p. 18
Michel Foucault: The Historical Constitution of Desire	p. 18
Catherine MacKinnon: Historical Silences/Gendered Violence	p. 22
Evolutionary Histories: Sexuality and Change	p. 23
Sexual Ethics in the West: Historical Perspective	p. 26
Sexuality in Antiquity: The Legacy of Greece and Rome	p. 27
Judaism: Sexuality, Morality, and Religion	p. 34
Christian Traditions	p. 37
Secular Paths: Philosophical Developments, Medical Influences	p. 50
From the Past to the Present	p. 56
Difficult Crossings: Diverse Traditions	p. 57
Cross-Cultural Perspectives: Importance for Sexual Ethics	p. 58
Possibilities of Cross-Cultural and Interreligious Awareness	p. 58
Obstacles to the Search for Alternative Perspectives	p. 59
Colonialist Research and Its Postcolonial Critics	p. 63
The Lessons of "Orientalism"	p. 64
Lessons for Sexual Ethics	p. 65
Pre-modern Islands of the South Seas	p. 70
African Cultures	p. 77
Sexuality and Community	p. 79
Gender, Marriage, and Family	p. 80
New Interpreters and Critics: Sustainable African Sexualities	p. 82
Kamasutra: Hindu Textbook on Erotic Love	p. 90
The World of Islam	p. 95
Diversity Unlimited?	p. 103
Sexuality and Its Meanings	p. 109
How the Body Matters	p. 110
Theories of the Body	p. 111
Transcendent Embodiment	p. 116
Whether Gender Matters	p. 133
Gender Theory and Practice	p. 137
Christian Theologies	p. 138
Biology, Culture, and Experience	p. 144
Biology, Culture, and More Experience	p. 149
Whether Gender Matters	p. 156
Sexuality and Its Meanings	p. 159
Elements in Sexual Experience	p. 161
Love, Desire, and Sexuality	p. 164
Just Love and Just Sex: Preliminary Considerations	p. 174
Sexuality and Justice	p. 175
Alternative Frameworks	p. 178
Sources for Christian Sexual Ethics	p. 182
Scripture	p. 183
Tradition	p. 186
Secular Disciplines of Knowledge	p. 188
Contemporary Experience	p. 190
Love and Just Love	p. 196
Moral Norms for a Just Love	p. 200
Love and Freedom	p. 204
Desire	p. 205
Framework for a Sexual Ethic: Just Sex	p. 207
Justice	p. 208
The Concrete Reality of Persons	p. 209
Obligating Features of Personhood	p. 211
Norms for Just Sex	p. 215
Do No Unjust Harm	p. 216
Free Consent	p. 218
Mutuality	p. 220
Equality	p. 223
Commitment	p. 223
Fruitfulness	p. 226
Social Justice	p. 228
Special Questions	p. 232
An Ethic Only for Adults?	p. 232
Sexual Relations with Oneself	p. 235
The Negative Potential of Sex	p. 237
Character, Faith, and Sexual Justice	p. 240
Patterns of Relationship: Contexts for Just Love	p. 245
Marriage and Family	p. 245
Historical and Cultural Contexts	p. 247
Christianity and Its Influences	p. 252
Descriptive and Normative Questions	p. 259
Same-Sex Relationships	p. 271
Theological and Ethical Sources	p. 272
Same-Sex Relationships and Justice	p. 288
Sexual Orientation: Given or Chosen	p. 294
Divorce and Remarriage	p. 296
The Marriage Commitment: Making, Keeping, Changing	p. 301
Divorce	p. 304
Remarriage	p. 307
Index	p. 313
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