Word: mansfield
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...large disparity in debating skill and Sandel's constant pestering combined to cloud Mansfield's arguments. The debate was far more complex than most in attendance seemed to appreciate...
Sullivan began by arguing on Mansfield's own terms: the field of natural law. Sullivan noted that natural law looks to nature for guidance on what is good. Arguing that for some people homosexuality was natural, Sullivan questioned how it could then be morally wrong. He addressed an obvious retort to this assertion by distinguishing between homosexuality and other natural, but certainly undesirable, conditions, such as epilepsy and alcoholism...
...Mansfield began his argument by pointing to shame as the "central controller of human dignity." Shame, while sometimes excessive, is the sole restraint on sexuality, said Mansfield...
...Mansfield's assertions gave rise to the question of whether shame is inherent in people or if it is socially manufactured. Sandel and Sullivan pressed Mansfield for an answer, but Mansfield steadfastly refused to oblige...
...also took a while for Mansfield to address his theory of natural law. When he finally did begin, he was interrupted by Sandel. Mansfield's argument--as far as he was able to articulate it--was that nature provides an ideal, not an individualized set of behavioral prescriptions; this is in sharp contrast to Sullivan's notion that because he is by nature homosexual, his conduct is acceptable under natural law. Non-procreative sex, masturbation, pre-marital sex and homosexuality are all distant from Mansfield's ideal and thus "imperfect." Homosexuality is even further from the ideal of natural...