Sex, Love, and Friendship

Book excerpt: The joke is that all the prostitutes go on vacation when the philosophers come to town. The reason that the other conventioneers do it; philosophers just talk about it. And talk about sex and love, and friendship is what the contributors to this volume do! They talk and argue, split hairs and clarify, all trying to advance our understanding of this most interesting practice of the human species. Some of the best minds on three continents, from four nations, and eighteen of the United States discuss such topics as adultery, commitment, cross dressing, gender politics, date rape, family, friendship, friends as lovers, gayness, love, marital pluralism, marriage, prostitution, religiously motivated anti-queer sentiments, same sex marriage, seduction, and self-respect. Rather than preach, participants probe our attitudes and practices involving these issues with the aim of better understanding the broad range of sexual practices of our species. The result is a collection of stimulating essays that can enliven class discussions as well as provide guidance for the sexually perplexed. The work is accessible to readers from high school through college and beyond.