An investigation into the reciprocal roles of power and language in determining a fair agreement in “commodified sexuality”.
Aims
Is ‘commodified sexuality’ an accurate description of modern day prostitution? To discuss whether the implications of ‘objectification’ are metaphysically possible when one sells their sexual services for a price To analyse the power strategies present within sex work from environment to language Determine which effect of power is the most dangerous to the sex worker.
Project Outline
Identify confusions within the terms of commodity and commodification Emphasize that sex work involves labour, not the mere ‘selling of one’s body’ Identify a separation of a sex worker’s sexuality occurs through use of Karl Marx’s alienation Stress the limits of consent using Immanuel Kant Argue that the most powerful power structure is utilised without conscious thought: language
Philosophers & Key Texts
Martha Nussbaum: Sex & Social Justice (1999)
Sexual Objectification
Karl Marx: Collected Works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, 1843-44, Vol. 3 (2005) & Capital (1961)
Alienated Labour
Immanuel Kant: Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals (2007)
Autonomy
Categorical Imperative
Sexual Contract of Marriage
Jürgen Habermas: The Theory of Communicative Action (1981)
Ideal Speech Arrangement