Moral Pluralism and Sex Education
Abstract
How should common schools in a liberal pluralist society approach sex education in the face of deep disagreement about sexual morality? Should they eschew sex education altogether? Should they narrow its focus to facts about biology, reproduction, and disease prevention? Should they, in addition to providing a broad palette of information about sex, attempt to cover a range of alternative views about sexual morality in a “value‐neutral” manner? Should they seek to impart a “thick” conception of sexual morality, which precisely articulates how individuals should lead their sexual lives? In this essay, Josh Corngold cautions against the adoption of each of these various approaches. He argues that schools should instead adopt an “autonomy‐promoting” approach, which will aim to empower students, cognitively and emotionally, to exercise sovereignty over their own sexuality.
Number of times cited: 4
- Charlotta Löfgren-Mårtenson and Pernilla Ouis, ‘We need “culture-bridges”: professionals’ experiences of sex education for pupils with intellectual disabilities in a multicultural society, Sex Education, 10.1080/14681811.2018.1478806, 19, 1, (54-67), (2018).
- Mary Lou Rasmussen, Faith, Progressive Sexuality Education, and Queer Secularism: Unsettling Associations, The Palgrave Handbook of Sexuality Education, 10.1057/978-1-137-40033-8_6, (115-135), (2016).
- Lauren Clark and Sarah M. Stitzlein, Neoliberal narratives and the logic of abstinence only education: why are we Still having this conversation?, Gender and Education, (1), (2016).
- Sharon Lamb and Renee Randazzo, From I to we: Sex education as a form of civics education in a neoliberal context, Curriculum Inquiry, 46, 2, (148), (2016).
