Sex by Deception

Abstract

Abstract In this chapter I will use sex by deception as a case study for highlighting some of the trickiest concepts associated with sexuality and moral psychology, including rape, consensual sex, sexual rights, sexual autonomy, sexual individuality, and disrespectful sex. I begin with a discussion of morally wrong sex as rooted in the breach of five sexual liberty rights that are derived from our fundamental human liberty rights: sexual self-possession, sexual autonomy, sexual individuality, sexual dignity, and sexual privacy. In light of this discussion, I then examine a puzzle about sex by deception—a puzzle which at first may seem to compel us to define ‘rape’ strictly in terms of ‘physical force or threat’ rather than ‘sexual autonomy’. I proceed by presenting an argument against the view that, as a rule, sex by deception undermines consent. Even when sex by deception does not compromise consent, I argue that it nonetheless is inimical to the respect we owe all persons, not because it vitiates sexual autonomy and thereby obstructs the possibility of consent, but because it fails to respect other sexual rights that we have, such as our rights to sexual dignity, individuality, or privacy.