Poole on Obscenity and Censorship

Abstract

Howard Poole argues that "there is a rational necessity linking negative attitudes to pornography with a readiness to impose censorship."' His argument, roughly speaking, has three premises: first, that to call something obscene is (for reflective people) to express strong but nonmoral disapproval; second, that this strong disapproval commits one to seek legislation keeping the material from children; third, that such legislation is a form of censorship. I find his discussion of the first premise confused and hold that the second and third are false.