Act Utilitarianism and Sexual Morality

1) Would be concerned with specific sexual acts carried out by a person at one time.

2) Would judge the rightness of one of these acts by looking at its probable
consequences for all those who would be affected by an act.
a) negative bodily consequences include: STD’s, pregnancy, physical harm from rape.
b) negative psychological consequences include: guilt, low self-esteem from being used, trauma from coerced sex, destruction of relationships (e.g. a marriage through infidelity or a friendship).
c) positive bodily consequences include: the sheer pleasure of it, relaxation, opening one up to further sexual experiences, pregnancy.
d) positive psychological consequences include: intimacy, may boost self-esteem, an outlet for pent- up sexual urges.

3) Intense short-term pleasures may outweigh long-term unhappiness: “This is going to
Be great when I do it, and I know I’ll feel guilty afterwards, but the guilt will fade and
I ’ll have sexy memories to reflect on”.

4) Long-term unhappiness may outweigh intense short-term pleasures: rape would
hopefully be ruled out by this; think also of a one- night stand where you contract an
STD.

5) Sex without love, sex before marriage: same thing--would be justified quite often in
virtue of consequences if taken on a case by case basis.

6) female circumcision: would be ruled out often; the clitoris is the most sexually
sensitive area of a woman’s body, hence sex between a man and a woman where the
woman had a clitoris would invariably be more pleasurable than sex where the woman
had no clitoris.