Sex and reason / Richard A. Posner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Posner, Richard A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sex--Economic aspects.

Sex.

Sex customs.

Sex and law.

Rationalism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vii, 458 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 1992.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Sexual drives are rooted in biology, but we don't act on them blindly. Indeed, as the eminently readable judge and legal scholar Richard Posner shows, we make quite rational choices about sex, based on the costs and benefits perceived. Drawing on the fields of biology, law, history, religion, and economics, this sweeping study examines societies from ancient Greece to today's Sweden and issues from masturbation, incest taboos, date rape, and gay marriage to Baby M. The first comprehensive approach to sexuality and its social controls, Posner's rational choice theory surprises, explains, predicts, and totally absorbs.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

Introduction

PART ONE The History of Sexuality

CHAPTER ONE Theoretical Sexology

CHAPTER TWO Autres Temps~ Autres Moeurs

CHAPTER THREE Sexuality and Law

PART TWO A Theory of Sexuality

CHAPTER FOUR The Biology of Sex

CHAPTER FIVE Sex and Rationality

CHAPTER SIX The History of Sexuality from the Perspective ofEconomics

CHAPTER SEVEN Optimal Regulation of Sexuality

CHAPTER EIGHT Moral Theories of Sexuality

PART THREE The Regulation of Sexuality

CHAPTER NINE Marriage and the Channeling of Sex

CHAPTER TEN The Control of Pregnancy

CHAPTER ELEVEN Homosexuality: The Policy Questions

CHAPTER TWELVE The Sexual Revolution in the Courts

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Erotic Art, Pornography, and Nudity

CHAPTER FOURTEEN Coercive Sex

CHAPTER FIFTEEN Separating Reproduction from Sex

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674042254

0674042255

OCLC:

923109343