One reasonable candidate is “the intention to produce sexual pleasure in oneself or in another”
sexual interest … [is] … an interpersonal sensitivity, one that enables us to delight in the mind and character of other persons as well as in their flesh… [S]ex may be seen as an instinctual agency by which persons respond to one anotherthrough their bodies. (Singer 1984: 382; see also Goldman 1977: 282–283; Russell 1929 [1970: passim])
.. a valuable thing in its own right, something to be cherished and promoted because it has intrinsic and not merely instrumental value” (Soble, with Halwani 2017: 8).
1.2 Sexual Activity
It is difficult to define “sexual act” or “sexual activity.” Various proposed criteria face difficulties (Soble 2006a). This is especially so when closely related concepts (e how to message someone on fitnesssingles.g., “having sex”) do not have the same extension. In ordinary language use, and according to some studies, people distinguish between having sex and sexual activity; they count many activities as sexual but not as having sex, such as solo masturbation, cyber-sex, and even oral sex (Soble 2006a: 15–16). Solo masturbation counts as sexual activity and as a sexual act, but not as having sex. There are a few criteria to define “sexual activity” (Soble 2006a). One criterion is reproduction: for an activity to be sexual it has to be or aim at being reproductive. This faces obvious counter-examples, such as same-sex sexual activities and heterosexual oral and anal sex (Soble 2006a: 18–19). Another criterion is bodily contact: sexual activities are those that involve contact with sexual body parts (though we need to figure out what these are). Continue reading “For the optimist, Soble notes, “Sexual pleasure is”