TY - JOUR

T1 - Ludus non tollit abusum

T2 - Zur ethischen Beurteilung virtueller Missbrauchsabbildungen

AU - Schreiber, Gerhard

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Guetersloher Verlagshaus. All rights reserved.

PY - 2023/1/1

Y1 - 2023/1/1

N2 - Virtual child sexual abuse materials featuring realistic representations of children in the form of computer-generated images, rather than real children, have become a growing trend in recent years. How can such virtual images of abuse - which are almost indistinguishable from real images of child abuse - be assessed? What criteria can we use to arrive at an ethically sustainable position? In this paper, I will argue that the production, dissemination, and use of virtual images of abuse are neither justifiable nor excusable from an ethical perspective. To this end, I will present various potential ways of approaching an assessment of such images and will examine each of these approaches with regard to their validity. I will show that consequentialist, deontological, and virtue-ethical approaches are not yet sufficient to support a categorical rejection of virtual images of abuse, and that it is only possible to arrive at a convincing approach if the social-ethical perspective is also taken into account.

AB - Virtual child sexual abuse materials featuring realistic representations of children in the form of computer-generated images, rather than real children, have become a growing trend in recent years. How can such virtual images of abuse - which are almost indistinguishable from real images of child abuse - be assessed? What criteria can we use to arrive at an ethically sustainable position? In this paper, I will argue that the production, dissemination, and use of virtual images of abuse are neither justifiable nor excusable from an ethical perspective. To this end, I will present various potential ways of approaching an assessment of such images and will examine each of these approaches with regard to their validity. I will show that consequentialist, deontological, and virtue-ethical approaches are not yet sufficient to support a categorical rejection of virtual images of abuse, and that it is only possible to arrive at a convincing approach if the social-ethical perspective is also taken into account.

KW - Theologie

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85146255210&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.14315/zee-2023-670106

DO - 10.14315/zee-2023-670106

M3 - Zeitschriftenaufsätze

AN - SCOPUS:85146255210

VL - 67

SP - 34

EP - 48

JO - Zeitschrift fur Evangelische Ethik

JF - Zeitschrift fur Evangelische Ethik

SN - 0044-2674

IS - 1

ER -