U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

PORNOGRAPHY CONTROVERSY - CHANGING MORAL STANDARDS IN AMERICAN LIFE

NCJ Number
31116
Author(s)
R C RIST
Date Published
1975
Length
290 pages
Annotation
A COLLECTION OF FOURTEEN ESSAYS DEALING WITH THE THEORETICAL, LEGAL, MORAL, AND SOCIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH PORNOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES.
Abstract
THE FOURTEEN ESSAYS ADDRESS THEMSELVES TO TWO LEVELS OF THE CONTROVERSY: ONE THEORETICAL OR PHILOSOPHICAL, ANOTHER OPERATIONAL OR PRAGMATIC. THE PHILOSOPHICAL DEBATE PERTAINS TO NOTIONS OF WHAT IS OR IS NOT MORAL TO THE PARAMETERS OF CIVIL DEMOCRACY AND TO THE RIGHTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL IN SOCIETY. THE PRAGMATIC DEBATE CONCERNS THE ENACTMENT OF LAW, THE USE OF FORCE TO CONTAIN AND POSSIBLY CENSOR CULTURAL EXPRESSION AND THE ACTUAL DEFINITION OF WHAT, IN FACT, CONSTITUTES PORNOGRAPHY. OPPOSING POINTS OF VIEW ARE PRESENTED WITH RESPECT TO THEORETICAL AS WELL AS OPERATIONAL CONCERNS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)