incorrect. scientists cant make statements that universal. they can certainly say that the hookers they studied were depressed, but they cannot make that statement about all hookers. things do not work that way. any thing we consider a vice, gambling, drinking, whatever, there are people who can handle it, and people who cannot.
Do you disagree that engaging in behavior that is damaging to yourself or others is immoral? If so, what is immoral? Is nothing immoral? Is drinking alcohol immoral? When done to excess, when you lose your freedom to it and become addicted, yes, that is immoral. I have a glass of wine with dinner sometime, and I don't consider it immoral. Overeating? Hmmm. Obviously, eating is a necessity. Overeating can be mildly unhealthy, or worse, morbid obesity. It is certainly dangerous in the extreme, and does end up killing people. In some sense it could be like a long slow suicide that you can't avoid because of reasons I don't know about. My question to you: Is causing psychological harm to another person immoral?
You continue to walk around the periphery and pick nits. Is prostitution immoral or not? Let's suppose one prostitute was not damaged psychologically (and I'm not conceding the point), would it force me to declare the research invalid? No. Suppose we changed the statement to "virtually all prostitutes are damaged psychologically by their profession", would that satisfy you? And if that was the statement and the truth, what is your opinion, is prostitution moral or immoral?
no. immoral things are things that you force on other people. absolutely, that is a far, far more reasonable statement. making the "all" statement just makes the argument lose credibility. of course i disagree. you own yourself, to do things to yourself is not immoral, no matter what it is. i do not presume to tell you what is best for you. it depends. to some extent being psychologically abused is voluntary (for adults), because unless you are a slave, you dont have to listen to anything anyone says. for example, it is not possible to abuse me psychologically, because i would just walk away and listen to my ipod if you tried. no no it isnt. doctors would agree with you. you are supposed to drink to keep healthy.
Is it moral to allow yourself to be psychologically damaged for money? I don't think so. What about the man? He is psychologically damaging the woman in this case, is that moral? Even is she consents in return for something she wants, if you know you are psychologically damaging someone else, and you choose to proceed with it understanding the consequences, is that moral? I don't think so.
Hookers are the priority because it sets off the high and mighty's sudden moralistic compass. they dont agree with it so suddenly they are looking out for your best interests by telling you what you should think and do. Id first be lobbying for more money for our troops who are psychologically damaged in war seeing their comrades die and being apart from their families. Something meaningful other than hookers. Actually, sending hookers overseas for our troops could be a morale booster. this would be an adequate merger. the hookers could get all their health insurance, etc and wartime pay while reducing some of the psych. damage of our fellow soldiers.
My first post was based on my gut feel that the women were psychologically damaged, therefore it was immoral. Later, I went googling and found there is research that supports my gut feel that the women are psychologically damaged by prostitution. I think it is immoral to engage in acts that psychologically damage others. There is nothing 'high and mighty' about it. Those are just the facts as I see them. If you think we should allocate money for the troops to deal with their PTSD, I agree. This is completely independent of whether women in prostitution are suffering psychological damage. I did not advocate spending money to treat them. The question asked was 'is it immoral' and since they are being damaged psychologically, I believe it is immoral to harm others, even if they consent to being harmed. Who would consent to be harmed of their totally free will? Nobody. People who consent to be harmed for money are doing so only under some form of duress. They may be addicted to sex, or they may need money to live. I don't think the voluntary consent is as 'totally free and voluntary' as some may suppose. I support our troops and I think prostitution is immoral, and there is no conflict between those two positions.
Just because something is immoral doesn't mean it should be stopped or outlawed. Spouses cheating on each other is immoral. What should we do about that? My morals are just that, mine. I don't push my morals on anyone and I certainly don't like to have anyone push them on me. Prostitutes don't hurt other people.
I never said it should or could be stopped. I said it should be legal, since it can't be stopped. I said it was immoral. I agree, its immoral. Not much either of us can do about it. I don't propose we do anything about it. It's immoral. The question was 'is prostitution immoral', and I answered it. If you think I'm pushing my morals on anyone, I don't know how to not do that and answer the question that was originally asked. If you have some ideas, PM me. I never said prostitutes hurt other people, I believe, and I've found research that says, they are psychologically damaging themselves by engaging in prostitution. That's why I think its immoral. Things that damage people are bad things. Have I hung on this thread? Yep. It's interesting, one we rarely talk about, and one I hadn't thought about. I had no idea I could support that it was damaging to women when I originally said so. But I was doubted so I went looking to see what I could find, and my gut was confirmed. There are a few folks disputing my opinion that have not posted any research at all. Am I holier than anyone else? No. Have I done immoral things in my life? Sure. What has changed as I've gotten older is that I don't try to kid myself and say "There's nothing wrong with it, I'm really a good guy". I say "Gee, this is probably and bad thing to do, and I feel like doing it anyhow, what's really going on here?". Then I ask myself what the negative consequences are of doing that bad thing. I find if you look at the negatives instead of just what you think you want out of it, you may decide its just not worth it.
so is this considered research showing prostitution is good - it is on the internet. Prostitution fills a vital role in our society by addressing the sexual and emotional needs of men and women, and by providing high paying employment options to women and men who wish to provide sexual services. People in a free society have the right to work in their chosen profession, and to do with their own bodies as they so choose. Likewise, all citizens have the right to engage in consensual adult sexual contact. Criminalization of private adult prostitution is wrong. Almost all the rest of the world realizes this, and the U.S. is one of the few countries were private sexwork is illegal. http://www.sexwork.com/coalition/15reasons.html
