Philippe Hayek

Dr. Johnson
PHIL 325-03
February 5th, 2021

Article #39: Alan Soble's "Analysis"

Soble’s “analysis” considers 8 different sexual characteristics in order to determine the

nature, definition, and morality of sex and pleasure. Adultery, counting, body parts, polysemous
behavior, fellatio insemination, pleasure, inventions, and sexual reproduction represent the
different angles Soble uses to frame this discussion. By defining and exploring each term, their
examples, and different contexts; Soble can then form a nuanced definition of sexual
acts/behavior. Soble begins the analysis quite simply by asking a question: What is sexual? To
preface this introduction, Soble uses a classic definition from Catharine Mackinnon, “What is
sexual, is what gives a man an erection”. This simple definition effectively lays out the
philosophical argument that Soble intends to explore through his analysis, chiefly the nature of
what is essential to defining “sexual acts”
Adultery is the topic of the introductory argument because it ushers a conversation on the
physical vs. perceptual. An exploration into the specific definition of adultery yields an
intriguing examination of semantics and culture. Here Soble uses sources ranging in authority
and scope; from the bible to Michael Wren, who take essentialist stanpoints to the nature of
adultery. That being, adultery occurs in a biblical context when one is unfaithful in their own
thoughts toward their partner. While, Wren argues that adultery and unfaithfulness are two
separate conditions, opposed to the biblical view. Here, words and their meanings are extremely
particular: Adultery, cheating, and unfaithfulness all elicit the same negative connotations in
reference to a relationship. But, the question of “sex” remains to be accounted for in all three of
these connotations. This ultimately pushes Soble to explore the next characteristic, counting, or
what experiences men and women partake in that “counts” as sexual activity.
To provide an explanation to what counts as sex for men and women, Soble utilizes the
reseach of Edward Lauman, who conducted experiments during which he described sexual
scenarios and collected data on the participants answers. His study revealed that men have a
much more narrowed definition of “sex” or what it means to have sex. By contrast, Laumen says
that women define sex more abstractly then men, relating more toward the biblical examples of
sexual thoughts representing unfaithful relations. For women, Lauman concludes that the
“pleasure” is a representation of a sexual act; while for men, the “physical” more appropriately
describes a sexual experience.
All in all, Soble’s analysis focuses around two dichotomies; stimulation vs. simulation,
and therefore essentialism vs. anti-essentialism. What stimulates the body might simulate a
sexual experience in the mind, and vice versa. This analysis is challenged by the essentialism
question, which is then also bound by socio-culture virtue. What is essential for sexual
experience is stipulated by the parties given culture and the context under which that experience
transpired. Ultimately suggesting that Mackinnon’s simple statement, with both genders
accounted for, provides an anti-essential definition of “what is sexual”.