Can homosexuality be proven to be morally wrong?

Question

Kant's "Categorical Imperative" says (as I understand it) that if you want to decide whether something is immoral or not you should imagine that everyone always carries out the act being judged, then, ask yourself if you want the results. So, if everyone in the world always lied would that be desirable? Obviously not, so telling lies is morally wrong.

Applying this to homosexuality, if everyone was always homosexual the human race would become extinct. If this is undesirable then homosexuality is morally wrong.

I personally don't care about people's sexuality but, conversely, this moral question interests me. Any views?

Kant's philosophy is flawed, for a number of reasons (that the more intelligent answers have stated), but it promotes some good discussion.

As I originally stated, I don't care about people's sexuality. If people are above consenting age, and they give that consent, then they can perform whatever sex act they like with each other.

I care about my own choices and whether or not they are good.

Answer 1

Nothing in this world can be proven morally wrong, because we all operate on our own, separate set of ethics and morals.

Answer 2

Applying this to homosexuality, if everyone was always homosexual the human race would become extinct. If this is undesirable then homosexuality is morally wrong.

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I really don't think, if everyone in the world was gay, with all our personal inventiveness and scientific know-how, that we would let the race die out. Today, gays who want to "get pregnant" have the options of using sperm donors, egg donors, and surrogate mothers.

Of course, that wasn't true 100 years ago... but, clearly, some gay men and lesbians have been having heterosexual sex (at least on occasion) since the beginning of time. No doubt, some of those unions produced children. Therefore, if everyone was gay and the technology was not available, it seems clear the race still would not die out.

So it seems your question isn't specific enough. Everyone "being homosexual" alone isn't enough to end the race, neither in the presence nor in the absence of technology.

Now, if everyone only had gay sex, in the absence of modern technology, THAT could bring about the end of the human race.

Additionally, since we currently DO have access to the technology... does the technology itself remove homosexuality from the possibility of being judged morally wrong by Kant?

Interesting intellectual exercise.

Answer 3

Interesting question. In my philosophy of ethics course last semester, we went through every moral theory and tested homosexuality. I wish I remembered the specifics. In the end, homosexuality tested out fine with all of them from what I remember, but Kant's theory in particular is very flawed for a number of reasons (not just related to homosexuality).

Answer 4

It's not morally wrong. There is a new study reported on in today's (6/26) Yahoo News that said homosexuality is most likely determined by biological factors...read the article. With today's technology, the human race would not die out if everyone were gay. If you looked at it that way, though, it could be looked at as mother natures way of ensuring population control. Who knows. People come in varieties. Good philosophy question.

Answer 5

Morality is simply stating " is wrong because said so," with no further explanation. So, of course it can be proven morally wrong.

But let's go with your argument.

Suppose homosexuality is wrong because homosexuals do not reproduce and this will lead to the extinction of the species. If there are 6 billion people on earth and 100,000,000 of them are homosexual and do not reproduce, leaving 5,900,000,000 heterosexuals reproducing will the species go extinct? No; we know that the population of the earth was at some time 5.9 billion before it reached 6 billion and the species has more individuals now, not fewer. Therefore your supposition is false and it follows that homosexuality is not wrong. Q.E.D.

Answer 6

While one may have been able to prove homosexuality morally wrong according to Kant's categorical imperative 20 years ago - we're now perfectly capable of perpetuating the species without heterosexual intercourse.

If everyone were homosexual the human race would be just fine, and I'd be the first one in line to buy stock in fertility options. *grins*

Answer 7

This idea misses something very important.

Everybody in the world is CAPABLE of lying, so the analogy works. Not everybody in the world is CAPABLE of becoming gay, so it can't work.

There is no need to fear for the extinction of the human race. If and when it happens, fellow human, it won't be because of homosexuality. It will be because some straight person decided to make decisions for the rest of the world.

I know how much fun it is to think up reasons why gay people should not have equal rights and protections, but you must try to keep them within the realm of reality for others to buy into it.

Thank you, Try again.

Answer 8

Actually, with modern science, everyone could be homosexual, but still reproduce (artificial insemination, etc.)

I don't think anything can be "proven" to be morally wrong...but if there was some kind of test, I would say the test would be this:

Does it harm anybody or anything?

and the answer would be, no it doesn't. People should mind there own business and concentrate on getting themselves morally right before worrying about other people.

Answer 9

Kant, like most philosophers mostly talked out of his a** but -- regadless of that, a does not follow b anyway -- so the categorical imperative doesn't work. Everyone being homosexual does NOT preclude children, it simply precludes accidental pregnancy. Turkey basters work admirably -- and there are historic antecedents for that among tribes that only have ritual heterosexual activity.

Regards,

Reynolds Jones
http://www.rebuff.org
[e-mail]

Answer 10

Moral is a variable. It is wrong to murder yet ok to send troops to kill an enemy. Morals are just boundaries set by people to say this is ok and this is not. If you don't have some boundaries somewhere eventually even pedophiles will ask if it is really immoral or not.

Personally my boundary is I don't care if people are homosexual or not. If they are adults let them do what they feel like. As long as it does not hurt someone.

There just has to be a line drawn somewhere.

Answer 11

It is against the bible and it is lets face it morally wrong. But you dont decide your sexual orientation and if you are gay or bisexual or whatever theres nothing you can do about it. Some people just have to get over the fact that being gay is against the bible becuase theres nothing that gays can really do to be straight, society just has to accept that these people are a little different and its ok to be different. I dont think they are going to hell because its not like they chose to be that way, and when you are in love with someone, thats it, you love them no matter what gender they are.