More handpicked essays just for you.
theories that rationalize the universality of the incest taboo
theories that rationalize the universality of the incest taboo
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
“We can’t allow gays to marry! What would be next? Incest?” Opponents of gay marriage frequently cite a common philosophical fallacy known as the "slippery slope", to relate same-sex unions to incestuous relations. According to the Purdue University writing center, a slippery slope is defined as “a conclusion based on the premise that if A happens, then eventually through a series of small steps, through B, C,..., X, Y, Z will happen, too, basically equating A and Z” (“Logical Fallacies”). However, we often ignore the true moral implications of these “next level” immoralities we would slip into. Incest, in nearly all modern cultures and faiths, is considered wrong, including the Catholic Church. But like so many facets of morality, incest is a topic that must be clearly looked at on all sides of the issue.
It is important at this point to establish that for the purposes of this moral comparison, incest will be defined as “sexual intercourse between persons so closely related that they are forbidden by law to marry” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Furthermore, with full knowledge that many incestuous relationships referenced in moral discussion are not entered into consensually, for the purposes of a more interesting moral argument, all incestuous relationships in this comparison shall be hypothetically consensual, meaning that all parties involved are willingly and knowledgably entering into relationships. Finally, because a frequent argument against incest calls upon the entirely possible risk of genetically deformed offspring, this comparison will hypothetically contain incestuous relationships that are aware of and take action against procreation. In summary, all incest in this paper is referring to entirely consensual relatio...
... middle of paper ...
...Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Doherty, Niall. "Incest, Happiness, and Other Unquestioned Assumptions." Web log post. Incest, Happiness, and Other Unquestioned Assumptions. N.p., 12 Aug. 2012. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Herzog, Hal. "The Problem With Incest: Evolution, Morality, and the Politics of Abortion." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 09 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
"Incest." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Lewis, C. S. The Four Loves. N.p.: HarperCollins, 1960. Print.
Lieberman, Debra, Dr., and Adam Smith. "It’s All Relative: Sexual Aversions and Moral Judgments Regarding Sex Among Siblings." Current Directions in Psychological Science. Association of Psychological Science, 2012. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
"Purdue OWL: Logic in Argumentative Writing." Purdue Online Writing Lab. Purdue University, 11 Mar. 2013. Web. 10 Jan. 2014.