ABSTRACT
What makes sex valuable? This chapter proposes a moderate thesis about the connection between reciprocity and the value of sex. It considers different approaches to what counts as “good sex,” explores the importance of pleasure and desire-satisfaction, and investigates a contentious analogy between sexual desire and appetites like hunger. It then considers the relationship between good sex and loving sex, critiquing some assumptions underlying how we tend to construct romantic relationships, while nonetheless suggesting that, for many people, loving sex is incommensurably valuable and central to a life well lived. Throughout, observations about sex are connected to broader issues that have received far more attention in value theory—concerning, for example, the plausibility of hedonism, the nature of moral development, the extent of psychological diversity, and the beauties and hazards of romantic love.
