In April 2002, the US Supreme Court had declared that the ban on virtual child pornography is unconstitutional; however, the prohibition on the pornography depicting the actual children was upheld. “Virtual child pornography” is the term which defines the depiction of child-on-child or child-on-adult sexual activities which are performed not by actual children, but with the help of “innovations in computer graphics, artificial intelligence, video animation, and encryption” (Eko 258). This situation represents the moral issue of high complexity, with several parties involved. In this paper, this case will be elaborated from the balanced ethical standpoint; the analysis of the parties involved will be given based on three approaches to ethics: utility, virtue, and care; and a policy resolution on this issue will be provided.
General Analysis of the Principle of Utility
First of all, it is essential to evaluate the situation from the standpoint of the parties involved in it, and their benefits and burdens which they carry out in this position. There are three parties involved in the case: the producers of virtual child pornography (generally, all the people who take part in the production), the consumers of the product, and the government. From the utilitarianism standpoint, the moral issue at stake is to estimate the overall effect of virtual child pornography’s distribution, and, accordingly, to determine whether or not its ban is rightful (Burnor and Raley 111). The most apparent benefit is obtained, of course, by the producers since they capitalize upon the distribution of their product. The consumers also benefit from it, because they have access to the legal outcome, which meets their demand. However, the government gains the least from that industry.
Notwithstanding the benefits which the parties obtain, the moral controversy of the situation prevails, and it has the primary significance. On the one hand, virtual child pornography, due to its nature, is indeed a legal product, which does not involve any actual child sexual activity. Also, one could claim that VCP decreases the interest in real child pornography and thus it even has a positive impact on the society, because “cybercrime in the United States… is on the rise” (Mack 19). However, this speculation omits the fact that the actual content of virtual child pornography still depicts illegal actions, which could be considered as promoting such activities, or, at least, as standardizing of such relationships. According to Kant’s formulation of the autonomy principle, every person equally creates the universal moral law for themselves (Burnor and Raley 166). Therefore, every participant in the distribution of VCP acknowledges the possibility of child sex as the moral norm.
Evaluation from the Standpoint of the Virtue Approach
To elaborate and emphasize the previous claim, it would be logical to take the next step of the analysis in the direction of virtue ethics. Citing Lester Hunt in their book, Burnor and Raley point out three categories of virtue: obligation virtue (fulfilling the moral obligations), good-promoting virtues (they advance specific values and goods, such as sociability), and limiting virtues (managing our inclinations and feelings) (225). Even though in the case under discussion the principal stress is put into the last category, the other two also show the discrepancy between the moral issue and the ethics of virtue. The production and consumption of virtual child pornography do not promote any good value, it does not fulfill the moral obligation to penalize the child pornography of any kind, and it apparently does not serve as any limitation of individual’s egoistic and hedonistic desires. The virtue approach reveals that VCP does not benefit society in any way.
Evaluation from the Standpoint of the Care Approach
Since the virtue approach was touched upon in the analysis of the case, it is possible to explore the given moral issue from another perspective – the perspective of care ethics, as it shares much in common with the ethics of virtue. The caring approach to ethics is a relatively new movement in the moral philosophy; however, it is quite established in its fundamental notions. This method is based upon the terms of caring and trust which are performed in relationships of a different kind. It could not only refer to family or friends, but also to the relations between adults and children as a whole. This model may seem more or less abstract, but it could be applied to the case of the research. Children are naturally considered as the caretakers since they have less experience in life. They also possess a much higher level of trust in comparison to adults; therefore a child could easily trust a sexual predator or an abusive parent (Burnor and Raley 250). Thus, the distribution of virtual child pornography puts children at the risk of growing up in society in which such destructive relationships are becoming the norm.
Conclusions
The case of virtual child pornography was analyzed from the moral standpoint, using three different approaches to ethics. On each level of the analysis, the unacceptable character of VCP was identified. Despite the benefits which are obtained by the producers and consumers of such product (and, arguably, by the government), the overall effect on society turns out to be negative. This point of view was supported by the analysis of the case concerning ethics of virtue and care. It could be suggested to ban virtual child pornography because it promotes the negative tendencies in the modern society.
Works Cited
Burnor, Richard, and Yvonne Raley. Ethical Choices: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy with Cases. Oxford University Press, 2011.
Eko, Lyombe. The Regulation of Sex-Themed Visual Imagery: From Clay Tablets to Tablet Computers. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
Mack, Raneta Lawson. “Cybercrimes: Legislation and Current Trends.” The Nebraska Lawyer, 2015, pp. 19-23.