Prostitution Paper
A Look at Lars Ericsson: Charges Against Prostitution Lars Ericsson proves his conclusion that prostitution is morally unobjectionable through three separate premises. The first is
"It is morally unobjectionable for a consumer to purchase nonsexual services from a supplier in a free exchange on an open marker". Ericsson intends morally unobjectionable to mean that there is no moral reason to object to a certain service. A free exchange is one in which both parties agree upon a certain service. An open market is a market where there are no restrictions on the selling and buying of a product and prices are determined by competition. Ericsson believes this premise to be universally accepted among his critics.
The second premise is that
"Prostitution is the practice of a consumer purchasing sexual services from a supplier in a free exchange on an open market" (pg.255).
This premise along with the first are assumed to be accepted. The premise in itself is self explanatory. The third premise is the key to Ericsson's arguments. The third premise is as follows
"Purchasing sexual services are morally on par with purchasing non sexual services". When and if this the third premise is accepted, the conclusion Ericsson reaches is that prostitution is morally on par with the purchasing of non-sexual items. Ericsson spends the majority of his writing on defending this third premise and the conclusion that follows. Ericsson tries to discredit some of the charges toward prostitution. The first charge that Ericsson handles is "The Charge from Conventional Morality". The charge states that prostitution is inherently wrong because any woman who would become a whore is choosing an unworthy style of living and is seriously immoral (pg.258). Prostitution is illegal and frowned upon by society, which is why the conventional moralist would say that it is immoral. Ericsson responds to this charge by claiming that just because society frowns upon prostitution does not
"It is morally unobjectionable for a consumer to purchase nonsexual services from a supplier in a free exchange on an open marker". Ericsson intends morally unobjectionable to mean that there is no moral reason to object to a certain service. A free exchange is one in which both parties agree upon a certain service. An open market is a market where there are no restrictions on the selling and buying of a product and prices are determined by competition. Ericsson believes this premise to be universally accepted among his critics.
The second premise is that
"Prostitution is the practice of a consumer purchasing sexual services from a supplier in a free exchange on an open market" (pg.255).
This premise along with the first are assumed to be accepted. The premise in itself is self explanatory. The third premise is the key to Ericsson's arguments. The third premise is as follows
"Purchasing sexual services are morally on par with purchasing non sexual services". When and if this the third premise is accepted, the conclusion Ericsson reaches is that prostitution is morally on par with the purchasing of non-sexual items. Ericsson spends the majority of his writing on defending this third premise and the conclusion that follows. Ericsson tries to discredit some of the charges toward prostitution. The first charge that Ericsson handles is "The Charge from Conventional Morality". The charge states that prostitution is inherently wrong because any woman who would become a whore is choosing an unworthy style of living and is seriously immoral (pg.258). Prostitution is illegal and frowned upon by society, which is why the conventional moralist would say that it is immoral. Ericsson responds to this charge by claiming that just because society frowns upon prostitution does not