Pornography- PHL - Pornography Altman Excluded 1 The...

Pornography
Altman Excluded
1. The Liberty Limiting Principles
a. Harm to others -
b. Harm to self-watching porn gives people the wrong idea of what porn is meant to
be like.
c. Offense - if an action is offense enough, we may outlaw it. Opinion: should not
oppose feelings of offense on others. Offense itself does not make it wrong it’s the
fact that it harms others that makes it wrong. If enough of the community finds it
offensive, one can outlaw it.
d. Immorality – If enough of the community finds it immoral, one can outlaw it. A
theoretical principle, used to stop sale and transaction of porn.
2. The 1967-68 (Johnson-Nixon) committee report
3. The Attorney General’s Report (1986)
4. Two Cases: Stanley v. Ga and Paris Adult Theater v. Slanton
a. Stanley v. Ga – cannot stop to watch porn in privacy of own home because
violation of the first amendment. (liberal attitude)
b. Paris Adult Theater v. Slanton – tried to define pornography so one knows what it
means to break that law, to know what really is porn. Didn’t say you could not
watch porn, but there was a theater, but transaction in public domain outlawed
(transaction not allowed)
5. Mill: argues for nearly completely freedom of expression, using the utilitarian principle.
The only legitimate restriction on speech is when it is used to incite violence – harm to
others principle only. The immorality and paternalism principles do not work; offense
principle questionable.
WICCLAIRS VIEW: “Feminism, Pornography, and Censorship”
1. Accept the definition of porn that includes violent and degrading material
2. Discussing legal censorship