Gay science : the ethics of sexual orientation research / Timothy F. Murphy.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Murphy, Timothy F., 1955-

Contributor:

• Penn Sexuality Collection (University of Pennsylvania)
• Gift of the William Way LGBT Community Center (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

• Between men--between women

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Homosexuality--Research--Moral and ethical aspects.
• Homosexuality--Research--Social aspects.
• Sexual orientation--Research--Moral and ethical aspects.
• Sexual orientation--Research--Social aspects.
• Sexual orientation.
• Sexual orientation--Research.
• Homosexuality.
• Homosexuality--Research.

Physical Description:

268 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, [1997]

Summary:

• What is the goal of sexual orientation research? What should it be? Will biological, psychological, and other research into the origins of sexuality be used as an instrument to further marginalize gay people -- or encourage greater tolerance? What will these studies mean for the future of gay rights and culture?
• The first book to offer a comprehensive look at the ethics surrounding this controversial area of research, Gay Science is sure to be at the center of the debate on homosexuality.
• Timothy Murphy reviews the social and historical conditions that spawned sexual orientation research and the findings that often perpetuated confusion about homosexuality. Murphy presents the views of many gay men and women who contend a biological link to homosexuality would help mitigate prejudice and foster greater protection under the law. He also explores arguments of those who detect more ominous motives in the uses of this research: that, for instance, if a clear genetic marker for homosexual tendencies were discovered, genetic screening would be used to identify and discriminate against gay people; and if a method for changing sexual orientation were developed, it would be forced upon gay adults, or children whose parents suspected they might grow up to be gay.
• Drawing on a wide range of studies in neuroanatomy, genetics, and psychology, Murphy systematically reviews the ways in which research could be used for discriminatory ends. He also argues that while much of the research to date is bad science, questionable in its objectives and methodologically flawed, the mistakes of the past and the potential misuse of research do not justify the suppression or abandonment of sexual orientationstudies.
• As Gay Science explains, science, for better or worse, represents a vital channel through which a more complete understanding of homosexuality can be established.
• Gay Science is the first comprehensive examination of the ethical questions surrounding sexual orientation research. Bioethicist Timothy Murphy presents the views of many gay men and women who detect ominous motives behind this research. If a genetic marker were discovered for homosexual tendencies, would genetic screening be used to further discriminate against gay people? If a method for changing sexual orientation were developed, would it be forced upon gay adults or children whose parents suspected they might grow up to be gay? Given the potential for its misuse, is sexual orientation research fundamentally unethical? Murphy acknowledges that much of sexual orientation research to date has been bad science, questionable in its motives and methodologically unsound. He examines the social and historical conditions, from the 1880s to the present, that spawned this research and reviews the findings that have often perpetuated confusion about homosexuality. He assesses five major studies on sexual orientation undertaken in the 1990s, from neuroanatomist Simon LeVay's study of certain brain structures in gay men to the work of psychologist Joseph Nicolosi. He questions the flawed and simplistic assumptions about sexuality made by much of this research. Murphy argues that a true science of sexual orientation would not be focused exclusively upon homosexuality nor presuppose its pathology.

Contents:

• 1. Scientific Accounts of Sexual Orientation
• 2. The Value of Sexual Orientation Research
• 3. The Practice of Sexual Orientation Therapy
• 4. Controlling the Sexual Orientation of Children
• 5. The Use of Sexual Orientation Tests
• 6. Sexual Orientation Research, Nature, and the Law
• 7. Science and the Future.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [231]-258) and index.

Local Notes:

Gift of the William Way LGBT Community Center.

ISBN:

0231108486

OCLC:

36798927