Is the sexual abuse of a child inherently evil or only evil by virtue of human perception or convention?

Question

skalite

You're speaking in circles. You might want to buy a slip in order to cover those contradictory utterances.

Stranger,

What a strange answer. Do you remember the days when it was "conventional" to beat one's wife? I'm glad that conventions have changed.

Sexual abuse is "wrong" but not evil? According to the reasoning of some people answering my question, if we perceived sexual abuse to be right or good, then it would not be wrong and certainly not evil. This idea seems ludicrous. How could the sexual abuse of a child ever be good, even if humans considered it good or right? To violate the dignity or body of another person is unethical, unjust and evil. Doing what is harmful or injurious toward another person (especially an innocent person) is objectively evil. Calling it right or good does not make such an act intrinsically right or good.

Dear sir,

I've never been sexually abused nor do I want to abuse anyone else. This question has an ethical focus. It is designed to show the total absurdity of denying that there are any moral absolute independent of culture. One philosopher argues that in any possible world, torturing children just for fun is evil. I would also submit that sexually abuse children is also evil in any possible or actual world.

Answer 1

It took a pair to ask that question. That's something I've wondered about myself. Like a child who's fallen & bumped their head that only starts crying when you react as though they were hurt. Take away all of the reactions of other people and what do you have left? It's tough to say. Probably not a whole lot (if any) trauma. But tack on the perception of evil & you have a person with a license for bad judgement ("sorry about what I did, I was sexually abused as a child").

Answer 2

Evil is a human term created to show the moral difference between the things humans value and the things they do not. Freedom is Good, Slavery is Evil etc. So by the very definitions of your question, sexual abuse is an evil by virtue of human perception, as Evil is a human perceptive concept.

Having said that, despite the definition of Evil, child abuse is in no way regarded as Evil by convention. Though my above statement has lead many to moral relativism, nothing could be farther from the truth. Put plainly, there are things that are objectively wrong. The abuse of a child is forcing someone to do something who is incapable of making a decision for themselves. It is every bit as duplicitous as Slavery. It can be called objectively wrong because it is an inherent human value to regard Life and Choice as Goods in this world, hence those who deny either of those is commiting an act contrary to human morality, what we would call Evil.

Answer 3

Wow. I've read some of these posts and frankly I am dumbfounded. The abuse of a child is inherently evil. No question about it. The child cannot give consent. They aren't old enough to make such a decision. Someone else is taking something away from another person. I don't have a problem if you want to do something to an adult, go right ahead, as long as they give consent and are capable of rational thought. But when it comes to doing something to somebody else and they can't give consent, that is something else.

Answer 4

Children were once considered sacred. The views have changed significantly over the years. No longer do we hold children as the vessels of purity, innocence, and holiness, but as small little terrors who get into everything.

If I'm remembering Dante correctly, in his hell there is a circle in hell for rapists (along with murderers and adulterers), which is basically what sexual abuse is. Not only that but children are defenseless. They can't save themselves when an adult bigger and stronger detains them.

I believe that it is mainly by virtue that we see it as wrong, but that should be enough. I read in a psychology book that a tribe in Africa exposes their children to sex at a very young age. Around 5 or so, I mean intercourse, so that is the norm for them while in America and other countries, it is not.

As I see it, a child is still a most sacred, precious treasure that we should cherish. They are the future for our society and if we want our world to change we need to start with our children. Only teaching them our virtues, will they be able to change things. I hope that one day, child abuse in any state will be a thing of the past, but that is a false hope that I carry.

Answer 5

I believe that this is as truly evil as anything can ever be in this world of ours.

Abuse of any kind is essentially and fundamentally evil--involving (by its very definition) very significant physical and/or emotional suffering of the victimized person, with this being brought about quite deliberately on the part of the perpetrator. Sexual abuse of a child has to be the vilest kind of abuse. The perpetrator is totally concerned with his/her own pleasure at the expense of an innocent victim. Perpetrators often try to rationalize what they do: the victim has "asked for it," or "really enjoyed it," or "wasn't really harmed" by the "so-called abuse." But everyone save for the perpetrators know very clearly that this is delusional bullshit, which makes the abuse even more clearly evil, as such excuses only allow the perpetrators to continue their pernicious behavior.

Answer 6

Relativism or absolutism?

It ain't convention to be sure, yes it is a wrong. It doesn't make it an Evil act either.

I don't believe in Evil but hey i'm ya typical post moernist so what d'ya expect? It doesn't do humanity a great favor once the concept is accepted, it creates violent reactions towards the perpetrators who are deemed as Evil

But very good question.

Answer 7

The sexual abuse of a child is inherently evil. As a child how has lived it I can see how it has changed the course of my life. I was 12 y-o when my uncle had sex with me. He not only robbed me of my innocence but he also gave me STDs. Syphilis, herpes and venereal warts. I am 27 y-o today and it's really hard to live with the thought that I may never be able to get married and have the family I so desire.

Alot of people have been sexually abused and are able to pick up the pieces and move on with their lives. But what about the people like myself who how have to deal with this daily? How does one really get over this? Would you call this evil?

Answer 8

I am of the opinion that sexual abuse has no inherency at all. It has an artificial, reactionary, learned, manufactured nature, as do the fractured, dissociative acts that mankind has thought up to torture itself with. And they are what defines evil, so I guess my answer is a half-yes.

Human perception and convention have a lot more to do with the nature of such things than the silent witness inference here, they are tacitly complicit.

Answer 9

The definition of abuse is too vague.

If it implies violent sexual contact...that by implication deliberately inflicts physical bodily harm with the sole purpose of causing pain...then it resides in the heinous category we might call inherent evil.

If, however, the perpetrator believes (however incorrectly) that he (and it ususually is a male) is loving this child (despite the obvious human convention of inappropriateness) and has not deliberately or violently inflicted physical bodily harm, then his crime is perpetrated against our currently accepted norms of sexuality.

Note that these norms are not timeless or universal. This question would have been asked and answered very differently 3,000 years ago!

Answer 10

Child abuse (just child abuse, not sexual) is inherently evil - it is the inherent aspect wanting to manipulate someone who doesn't understand the world and hurt that person knowing he/she can't defend.

Child sexual abuse is evil by virtue of human convention. But given child abuse itself is inherently evil, child sexual abuse is also inherently evil. If Child abuse wasn't evil, then I would probably be inclined to say child sexual abuse is evil by human convention.

Ok, anyone who wants to throw rotten tomatoes at me, please feel free - I don't like my answer either.

[Edit]

sokrates, exactly - you hit the bull's eye in my brain (if you wrote what I think you wrote) with the word convention. This question was intrigueing me, I was tempted to write more but I am personally having thoughts coming out as moral issues (as I mentioned, I don't like my own answer).

I can add a couple of things to my answer. One, there is a defintion of word abuse. It is a moral issue and as I mentioned earlier, abuse is abuse. No issues, no disagreements.

Second was with what is considered abuse. Now sexual exposure to a child was considered abuse, I have to think back about the time of my great grandma who was married when she was barely 7 years old. now, i don't know what that means. i would call today, that it was abuse. may be not - i do remember when i was talking to her when she was almost 60 years old, on a quiet farm as she was thinking back about her young age and told me that she WASN'T comfortable with a few things. Amazing, right? a conversation between a 60 year old and barely 10.

Well, i could still go on - but my sentiments seem to awefully come in my way - in my eyes, child abuse in any form is a horrendous topic, so, is abusing women (you got me writing because of what you mentioned) and sexuality in general is a deeper subject to me.

Anyway. Nice question. Kinda made my morning one with a little bad taste, but hey... this is the forum about philosopy.

Once again, anyone with rotten tomatoes and rotten eggs, please feel free.