One Body: An Essay in Christian Sexual Ethics(Notre Dame Studies in Ethics and Culture)

This important philosophical reflection on love and sexuality from a broadly Christian perspective is aimed at philosophers, theologians, and educated Christian readers. Alexander R. Pruss focuses on foundational questions on the nature of romantic love and on controversial questions in sexual ethics on the basis of the fundamental idea that romantic love pursues union of two persons as one body. One Body begins with an account, inspired by St. Thomas Aquinas, of the general nature of love as constituted by components of goodwill, appreciation, and unitiveness. Different forms of love, such as parental, collegial, filial, friendly, fraternal, or romantic, Pruss argues, differ primarily not in terms of goodwill or appreciation but in terms of the kind of union that is sought. Pruss examines romantic love as distinguished from other kinds of love by a focus on a particular kind of union, a deep union as one body achieved through the joint biological striving of the sort involved in reproduction. Taking the account of the union that romantic love seeks as a foundation, the book considers the nature of marriage and applies its account to controversial ethical questions, such as the connection between love, sex, and commitment and the moral issues involving contraception, same-sex activity, and reproductive technology. With philosophical rigor and sophistication, Pruss provides carefully argued answers to controversial questions in Christian sexual ethics.

About the Author :
Alexander R. Pruss is associate professor of philosophy at Baylor University. He is the author and co-editor of a number of books, including The Principle of Sufficient Reason: A Reassessment.

Review :
"One Body is a large, ambitious, and impressive defense of traditional Christian sexual ethics . . . Alexander Pruss's argumentative tenacity (One Body 'bristles' with arguments, as they say) is extraordinary, and One Body will become a standard text in sexual ethics." —Nova et Vetera "This volume is written by a philosophy professor who is also very well versed in Christian theology . . . . It would be interesting for anyone wanting to understand Catholic moral reasoning with regard to sexual issues, and could be especially helpful as a graduate level textbook on marriage and sexuality at a Catholic institution." —Religious Studies Review "The most impressive thing about One Body is Pruss's ability to sustain his main argument for the entirety of the work (all four hundred-plus pages), through further complications, responses to objections, and an array of complex and important issues. There are, scattered throughout, several minor arguments that offer secondary support for some of his particular ethical conclusions. But, in my opinion, the greatest contribution that One Body makes to the field of Christian sexual ethics is the systematic approach that it provides for those who want to investigate these issues further." —Catholic Social Science Review "This profound and very readable work sets a new standard for sexual ethics. Built around its central argument is a profound examination of a wide variety of sexual phenomena, many of which are of pressing ethical concern yet are only curiously dealt with by previous writers . . . . I doubt I will read a better book on the philosophy of sex in my lifetime." —New Blackfriars "This is a wide-ranging and deeply interesting book. . . . It is a philosopher's work of moral philosophy and theology. . . . It has a core thesis, the principal concern of which is to advance a conception of marital union; it then discusses the implications of that thesis for a variety of questions in sexual ethics. Given the variety of debates about marriage currently under way in many cultures, the topic is obviously a significant one." —Studies in Christian Ethics "Pruss does not hesitate to deal with all aspects of human sexuality in an open and honest manner, recognizing and responding to objections from the secular world as well as from more liberal Christian writers. His arguments are sensitive to the realities of modern life, but unyielding in adherence to traditional doctrine. . . . College and professional libraries would benefit from having such an articulate and thorough treatment of Christian sexual ethics." —Catholic Library World "Professor Pruss has thought as deeply and rigorously about the meaning and moral significance of human sexuality, and about the norms by which sexual choices should be guided and sexual conduct governed, as anyone of whom I am aware writing today." —firstthings.com "With great clarity and without recourse to religious argument, Pruss gives the reader an extensive philosophical reflection on love and sexuality. . . . The author examines reproductive technology and concludes that it is only morally permissible when helping coition to be fruitful, so that the child always remains a fruit of the marital act. Pruss has presented us with a substantial apologia on Catholic teaching on human sexuality." —Catholic Medical Quarterly "One Body is an excellent piece of philosophical-theological reflection on the nature of sexuality and marriage. This book has the potential to become a standard go-to text for professors and students working on sex ethics issues, whether in philosophy or theology, both for the richness of its arguments, and the scope of its coverage of cases. " —Christopher Tollefsen, University of South Carolina "This is a terrific—really quite extraordinary—work of scholarship. It is quite simply the best work on Christian sexual ethics that I have seen. It will become the text that anyone who ventures into the field will have to grapple with—a kind of touchstone. Moreover, it is filled with arguments that even secular writers on sexual morality will have to engage and come to terms with." —Robert P. George, Princeton University