Pornography, Pragmatism and Proscription

McGlynn, Clare; Ward, Ian

Abstract

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 criminalizes the possession of extreme pornography, namely, images of bestiality, necrophilia, and life-threatening or serious violence, and is the immediate context for this article which seeks to present a pragmatic liberal humanist critique of pornography regulation. Such a critique, derived in particular from the writings of Nussbaum and Rorty, presents an alternative case for regulation, eschewing the visceral competing fundamentalisms which characterized the ‘porn wars’ of the 1980s and 1990s. Whilst moral and epistemological philosophers squabble with radical feminists and radical libertarians, extreme pornography can nurture real injustice and ruin real lives. A pragmatic liberal humanism demands a pragmatic response to extreme pornography. The first part of this article will revisit the longer history of the ‘porn wars’; the second describes the parameters of a pragmatic liberal humanist critique; the third examines the shorter history of pornography regulation written into the provisions now enacted in the 2008 Act.

Citation

McGlynn, C., & Ward, I. (2009). Pornography, Pragmatism and Proscription. Journal of Law and Society, 36(3), 327-351. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2009.00470.x

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2009
• Deposit Date: Mar 24, 2011
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 15, 2011
• Journal: Journal of Law and Society
• Print ISSN: 0263-323X
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-6478
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 327-351
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2009.00470.x
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1548534