Resolved: Viewing Pornography is Morally Wrong

I will be arguing from three approaches:1. Viewing pornography is immoral according to Kantian deontology.2. Viewing pornography is immoral according to Rossian deonotology3. Pornography is a negative force in society (a society is better without pornography than with pornography).Naturally, for approaches 1 & 2 I will explain why both Kantian and Rossian ethics are veridical ethical theories, if my opponent disagrees with either Kantian or Rossian ethics then he can voice his concerns and I will defend the theories accordingly. Kantian DeontologyImmanuel Kant writes a huge amount regarding ethics, but the main points of his theory are:1. The moral worth of actions is intrinsic, as opposed to being defined by pleasure or pain.2. A good intention is the only thing that is universally good.3. Morality ought to only be considered from a rational viewpoint - adding emotional bias into the equation can only serve to cause confusion, as our emotions are fickle and changeable.Using our reason, we can now establish a criteria for the morality of certain acts. An action is immoral if it does not satisfy all the following, rationally derived, criteria for morality.1. Universalisability - when acting in a certain way, we must be willing that everyone be justified in acting in the way that we are. For example, if we steal a loaf of bread, we must be willing that everyone steal a loaf of bread in the same situation.2. Ends - as rational moral agents, human beings are intrinsically valuable. This entails that we ought to treat the welfare of our fellow man as intrinsically, not extrinsically valuable. The implication of this is that we ought not to treat humans as means to an end - we ought not to 'use' people for our own end because this shows a lack of respect for human dignity.3. Ideal society - when determining the morality of an act, we ought to consider how that act would fit in with the laws of a hypothetical "ideal society". If an act would be forbidden in the ideal society, then we ought not to do it.Relating back to pornography, the act of viewing pornography is immoral because it does not adhere to the "ends" criteria. When one watches pornography they are using someone as a means (the source of sexual stimulation) to an end (sexual pleasure). This is immoral because it does not respect the "pornstar" (for want of a better word) as a rational human being - it respects her as a tool for our own selfish and base pleasures that do not benefit ourselves either.As Kant put it:"to allow one's person for profit to be used by another for the satisfaction of sexual desire, to make of oneself an Object of demand, is to dispose over oneself as over a thing and to make of oneself a thing on which another satisfies his appetite, just as he satisfies his hunger upon a steak. But since the inclination is directed towards one's sex and not towards one's humanity, it is clear that one thus partially sacrifices one's humanity and thereby runs a moral risk. Human beings are, therefore, not entitled to offer themselves, for profit, as things for the use of others in the satisfaction of their sexual propensities." (1)Although this quote only condemns those who produce pornography, viewing pornography is supporting it.Rossian EthicsAnother approach to ethics is based on duty-based intuitionism. W.D Ross highlighted that our rational intuitions recognise 7 "duties" that are moral to obey and immoral to disobey. As rational persons, we recognise these duties as self-evidently "good", we do not need to try and explain why they are good because their good is intrinsic and intuitionally known. The duties are as follows:Fidelity: We ought to keep promisesReparation: We ought to resolve any harm that we may have previously causedGratitude: We ought to especially do good to those who do good to usNon-maleficence: We ought not to harm othersBeneficence: We ought to do good to othersJustice: We ought to distribute benefit according to meritSelf-improvement: We ought to improve ourselves and make ourselves more virtuous people.In the context of pornography, viewing it is immoral because it disobeys our duty for self-improvement. Watching pornography is contrary to self-improvement. I will explain in more detail...Discourages romantic success/developmentIn short, viewing pornography hinders one's romantic successes or development. It does so because it removes the incentive to go out, meet and become romantically involved in actual women. Let us imagine being in the place of someone who watches pornography; why would he want to make the effort to go out and romanticise average women when he can stay at home and satisfy himself on pornography that features beautiful naked women?So ultimately, viewing pornography is an act that seeks to replace interaction with normal women with visual sexual stimulation. Yet in the long term, this will inevitably lead to personal loneliness, social ineptness with the opposite sex and even sexual assault - as men become frustrated with women when they have been brainwashed from countless hours of submissive women only to face the tough competition of the actual dating scene.Furthermore, viewing pictures of beautiful naked women will higher one's 'standards'. This would mean that a pornography-viewer would seek prettier women than a non-pornography-viewer. This will, however, lead to the former being more sexually/romantically disappointed than the latter.Sexual healthStudies show that pornographic consumption leads to an increase in sexual health problems among young males. Including erectile dysfunction, delayed ejaculation, abnormal sexual fantasies, depression, fatigue, dissatisfaction and sexual anxiety. (2)Mental HealthAs well as studies that have shown pornography consumption to correlate to depression (3), pornography is highly addictive (4). Addiction is obviously contrary to self-improvement.Ultimately, viewing pornography is contrary to self-improvement, and as we have a moral duty to look after ourselves and become more virtuous and health people, viewing pornography is immoral.SocietyViewing pornography is also immoral from a sociological perspective. It encourages men to view women as a source of sexual satisfaction as opposed to an equal human being. Furthermore, pornography consumption brainwashes people into believing that sexual intercourse is merely a casual hedonistic practice, instead of a loving, caring act that is intrinsically ordered towards procreation.This widespread view of sex as a mere pleasure-generating act has poisonous effects on wider society. Disconnecting procreation from sex would invariably lead to an increase in teenage pregnancies, as people would not consider the procreative potential of the act that they choose to casually take part in.Viewing pornography can also desensitise the brain - the more sexual material that one consumes (especially considering that their specific fantasies/fetishes can be catered to), the less satisfied they will be with their wife. This would lead to an increase in divorce as men become increasingly dissatisfied as their wives are not able to live up to the ridiculous sexual standards set by pornography. I do not think I need to explain why divorce is negative to society.____________________________________________________________________________I have more arguments to say, although I'm afraid I have used most of my character count.To summarise, watching pornography is immoral because:1. Doing so treats people as means to an end2. It is contrary to self-improvement3. It is negative to the health of the wider society (1) https://philosophynow.org...(2) http://www.highexistence.com...(3) https://www.psychologytoday.com...(4) http://www.ccv.org...