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A Look at Lars Ericsson: Charges Against Prostitution
Lars Ericsson proves his conclusion that prostitution is morally unobjectionable through three separate premises. The first is
“It is morally unobjectionable for a consumer to purchase nonsexual services from a supplier in a free exchange on an open marker”.
Ericsson intends morally unobjectionable to mean that there is no moral reason to object to a certain service. A free exchange is one in which both parties agree upon a certain service. An open market is a market where there are no restrictions on the selling and buying of a product and prices are determined by competition. Ericsson believes this premise to be universally accepted among his critics.
The second premise is that
“Prostitution is the practice of a consumer purchasing sexual services from a supplier in a free exchange on an open market” (pg.255).
This premise along with the first are assumed to be accepted. The premise in itself is self explanatory. The third premise is the key to Ericssons arguments. The third premise is as follows
“Purchasing sexual services are morally on par with purchasing non sexual services”.
When and if this the third premise is accepted, the conclusion Ericsson reaches is that prostitution is morally on par with the purchasing of non-sexual items. Ericsson spends the majority of his writing on defending this third premise and the conclusion that follows. Ericsson tries to discredit some of the charges toward prostitution.
The first charge that Ericsson handles is “The Charge from Conventional Morality”. The charge states that prostitution is inherently wrong because any woman who would become a whore is choosing an unworthy style of living and is seriously immoral (pg.258). Prostitution is illegal and frowned upon by society, which is why the conventional moralist would say that it is immoral. Ericsson responds to this charge by claiming that just because society frowns upon prostitution does not automatically make it immoral. The opinions of society are irrelevant to whether or not something is immoral. Most of societies opinions come from the past or religion, etc. But this is no reason to constitute something, such as prostitution, immoral. Ericsson states that if
“two adults voluntarily consent to an economic arrangement concerning sexual activity and this activity takes place in private, it seems plainly absurd to maintain that there is something intrinsically wrong with it” (pg.259).
Ericsson strongly believes this, but it does not go without an argument. Ericsson faces heat from Laurie Shrage who claims that morality is largely determined by how widely it is accepted because that is the reality in which we live. In other words morals are based on how they are perceived by the majority in the society in which we live.
Shrage goes on to distinguish the difference between the social realities in which we live from the objective reality which Ericsson believes in. This is to say that what the general public believes, aside from rationality, is the social scale for morality (pg.272). Sharge draws an analogy of prostitution being on the lines of eating cats and dogs. But Ericsson would most likely respond by claiming that the way people react and the way one is treated does not having anything to do with morality. Plus, the legalization of prostitution would begin to close the gap between social reality and objective reality. I believe Shrage falls short of proving that “The Charge from Morality” is correct. If morals were based on the majorities beliefs then things such as slavery could still be considered morally correct today. Slavery was believed to be morally correct in its time by the white majority, but almost all would agree that it is one of the most intrinsically bad or immoral services possible. Ericsson seems to be correct in debunking “The Charge from Conventional Morality” but he faces many other charges.
“The Sentimentalist Charge” is about how prostitution takes something that is meant to be intimate and special and makes it cheap, impersonal, and degrading. A sentimentalist believes that sex with love and affection is intrinsically good, therefore sex without love is bad. Ericsson says this consists in the notion that sex without love or affection is “no good” (pg.260). The sentimentalist also believes that sex is too natural and basic to be sold. Ericsson does agree that sex and love is something very special and wholesome. But he argues that just because one product is better than another does not make the lesser product bad. Ericsson gives an analogy of two bottles of wine. One is an aged classic and the other a house wine. Because the classic is better, does not make the house wine bad altogether (pg.260). But would the legalization of prostitution make people still want sex with love? The reasoning that intra marital sex or sex with affection is good and prostitution sex is bad is considered out of touch with reality by Ericsson. Sometimes sex within a marriage can become non affectionate.
Ericsson also claims that sex is definitely not too basic or natural to be sold. He believes all natural and basic needs should be free and not sold (pg.261). Ericsson uses food as an example of something that is basic and natural yet is sold everyday. Food and sex are both basic and natural needs. There are differences between a food seller and a prostitute but these differences only exist because of societies view on prostitution. Shrage again jumps in and claims that sex is not a human necessity. She gives an example of a couple in New Guinea who refrained from sex for five years. This lack of sexuality leads Shrage to argue that sex is not a basic human need, but rather a socially constructed phenomenon (pg.273). Carol Pateman continues Shrages argument by saying that people die from lack of food or drink, but there are no deaths due to lack of sex.
Ericsson now deals with “The Paternalistic Charge”. This charge, for some critics, can possibly knock down the idea that there are those prostitutes who may find being a whore rewarding and non-degrading. Prostitution comes with its fair share of dangers. Prostitutes are subjected to STDs, crime, rape, and much more. With rape, crime, and STDs comes emotional damage. No more than 10 to 20 percent of prostitutes find there job non-degrading and rewarding. Shouldnt the government step in, using the utilitarianism principle, for the majority and ban prostitution for the