Is there a morality of attraction?

[UCBooties]

Is there a morality of attraction?

Ok, this is a rather longwinded question that has been kicking around in my head for a while and since the people on this board have a better chance of considering it objectively, I’d like to know your thoughts on the matter. My main question is whether or not any form of physical or sexual attraction can be moral. Is there good and bad attraction or is it something amoral? Please understand, I am not positing that the actions that are caused by attraction are beyond moral judgment, but whether the feeling itself can be right or wrong.

This goes back to Senator Rick Santorum’s vile little quote about how granting legal rights to gay people is the first step towards legalizing bestiality and pedophilia. A logical person will tell you that the reason homosexuality should be socially acceptable and pedophilia should not be is because homosexuality does not harm anyone, while pedophilia does harm the child in question. However, we also largely accept that homosexuality is not a choice and the attraction to members of the same sex is something innate to their character. We accept that this is part of a homosexual’s identity and we see no reason to curtail their pursuit of these attractions because these pursuits are not harmful but are instead fulfilling. My question is, what about people who find themselves sexually attracted to children? We are certainly right to say that any pursuit of that attraction is immoral because it will harm any child in question, but can we morally judge the attraction?

[Darth Raptor]

No, you can't.

UNLESS they act upon that attraction. I know you just said that, but it applies to more than just baby raping. If they contribute to the demand for kiddie porn where children are raped by a third party, then that's clearly immoral as well.

But no, just being attracted to kids is harmless. For the reasons you mentioned.

[Zero]

The way I see it, only actions can be immoral. Desires are amoral, because only actions can be judged as having good or bad causes and effects.

[Darth Wong]

That depends on what you think morality is all about. If morality is about social welfare vs harm, as per utilitarianism, then of course, only actions can be immoral. If, on the other hand, morality is about personality traits, as per Aristotle and Judeo-Christianity, then a desire can be immoral even if you don't act on it.

Mind you, when discussing laws as Rick Santorum is doing, we must use the former definition of morality, not the latter. The government is in the business of protecting social welfare and preventing social harm, not regulating personality traits.

[Zero]

Yeah, I forgot that there's both consequentialist and deontological ethical systems, but consequentialist ethical systems are ones that people most frequently use, and when someone talks about the evils that some sexual desires will bring upon society, they're thinking from a consequentialist perspective, not a deontological one.