Censorship Of Pornography A Moral Issue Term paper

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Imagine The New York Times headline reading "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition Banned!!" If the pro-censorship/anti-porn sector of our society has its way, this headline may come true. Some of the pro-censorship supporters believe that women posing provacatively in bathing suits should be considered pornography and that this and all other forms of pornography should be made illegal. There is and has been a moral debate over whether or not pornography should be censored. Many individuals believe that pornography is harmfull to society and therefore morally wrong. However, on the other side there are also people who do not believe that pornography is harmful and some believe that it may even be beneficial to society. The type of pornography on which this memo will focus is that of in which the human subjects have agreed to participate in the production of the material, which is read or veiwed by choice by adults. While some people even find pornography involving consenting adults offensive, there is no morally compelling reason to censor this type of pornography.

The first moral standard that must me considered when determining whether or not to censor pronography is the principle that all human beings have the right to free speech and expression as long as no one else is being harmed. Freedom of expresion is a moral principle which, it this country, is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. Freedom of expression is a basic need which people have in order to be satisfied with their lives. Censorship of pornography violates an individual's basic human need as well as his/her right to self-expresion. Only when there is a clear and present danger of genuine harm caused by the form of expression is question should the expression be censored (Christensen 1990:158). Of course, there are certain types of expression that should not be allowed because they do present genuine harm to human beings. For example, yelling "FIRE" in a crowed theater or giving government secerts to the enemy during wartime places people in serious danger. One of the elements of making a moral judgment is that the judgment must be based on the facts that are available when the judgment is being made. However , with respect to pornography, no relevant facts exist which support the theory that it "harms" people. It is only a matter of personal opinion whether or not there is any damage caused to humans by pornographic expression.

Freedom of expression is a moral standard, which can not be changed by authoritative bodies. Therefore, it cannot be censored by the government. However, people who dislike pornography want to compromise this standard by censoring the standard, and making it illegal. Even if individuals hate what pornographers say or express, they should still defend their right to say it. The right to free speech and expression is the cornerstone of the moral values that most people hold dear. The moral standard of free speech is an outright rejection of government censorship. The best way to censor speech of espression which someone finds offensive is for that individual to not listen or veiw the expression of speech (Don't be so quick to censor" 1995:20-21).

Another characteristic of a moral standard such as free speech is that moral standards consider everyone's interests as equally important. By censoring pornography because some people find it offensive, we are not taking into account the interests of the people who find pornography pleasurable.

Also, it is dangerous to censor any form of speech or expression because "it is only by collusion of adverse opinions that the remainder of the truth has a chance of being supplied (Bender 1991:116). While most people would agree, at this point in time there is probably no great "truth" waiting to be discovered in pornography, if we begin...

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