The Mismeasure of Desire

The Mismeasure of Desire: The Science, Theory, and Ethics of Sexual Orientation
Author Edward Stein
Country United States
Language English
Genre Philosophy
Published 1999 (Oxford University Press)
Media type Print
Pages 388
ISBN 0-19-514244-6

The Mismeasure of Desire: The Science, Theory, and Ethics of Sexual Orientation is a 1999 book about sexual orientation research by philosopher Edward Stein. The work has been praised by philosophers.

Summary

Stein discusses sexual orientation research, criticizing several other authors for their views on the subject. He finds research that claims to have identified genes that cause homosexuality in drosophilia (fruit flies), including a 1995 study by Jean-François Ferveur et al. that was published in Science magazine, to be guilty of extreme anthropomorphism. Stein argues that such research is irrelevant to understanding sexual orientation in humans. He criticizes journalist Chandler Burr for uncritically accepting "courtship" behavior between male fruit flies as an example of animal homosexuality. Stein calls Burr's work A Separate Creation (1996) "unsophisticated" and criticizes Burr for his failure to discuss social constructionist views of sexual orientation. Other writers Stein criticizes for their treatment of social constructionism include Michael Ruse, Simon LeVay, and Andrew Sullivan. Stein argues that it has not been shown that sexual orientations are non-arbitrary groups ("natural kinds") and that the ethics of sexual orientation research are open to question.[1]

Discussing the debate over sexual orientation between "essentialists" and "constructionists", Stein observes that essentialists generally see heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual orientations as "natural human kinds" that can be found in other cultures and throughout history, whereas constructionists maintain that sexual orientations are "social human kinds", linguistic constructs that capture certain culturally derived meanings about sexual behavior.[2]

Scholarly reception

Philosopher Martha Nussbaum praised The Mismeasure of Desire, although she also criticized it on some details, suggesting that Stein's account of natural kinds, and hence also the debate over social constructionism, is unclear.[3]

Stein's work was described by philosopher John Corvino as a "dated but still excellent" book on the limitations and relevance of sexual orientation research.[4]

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Stein 1999. pp. iii, 78, 105, 166, 338, 350, 366.
  2. ↑ Jones 2007. p. 29.
  3. ↑ Nussbaum 2002.
  4. ↑ Corvino 2013. p. 101.

Bibliography

Books
  • Corvino, John (1999). What's Wrong With Homosexuality?. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-985631-2.
  • Jones, Stanton L.; Yarhouse, Mark A. (2007). Ex-gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation. Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic. ISBN 978-0-8308-2846-3.
  • Stein, Edward (1999). The Mismeasure of Desire: The Science, Theory, and Ethics of Sexual Orientation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514244-6.
Journals
  • Nussbaum, Martha (May 2002). "Millean Liberty and Sexual Orientation: A Discussion of Edward Stein's The Mismeasure of Desire". Law and Philosophy (Kluwer Academic Publishers) 21 (3): 317–334.