Alan Gerald Soble (; born 1947) is an American philosopher and author of several books on the

philosophy of sex Philosophy of sex is an aspect of applied philosophy involved with the study of sex and love. It includes both ethics of phenomena such as prostitution, rape, sexual harassment, sexual identity, the age of consent, homosexuality, and conceptual ...

. He taught at the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Urban 13 association. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High rese ...

from 1986 to 2006. He is currently Adjunct Professor of philosophy at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Life

Soble was born in 1947 to William and Sylvia Soble in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Early in his professional career, Soble wrote papers in areas of

Ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

and

Epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Epis ...

. In the late 1970s he began to help articulate the fledgling specialty of the philosophy of sex, becoming one of the founding scholars and leaders of the field. In 1977, while at the

University of Texas in Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, he also founded the Society for the Philosophy of Sex and Love, serving as the society's director from 1977 to 1992; the proceedings of the Society were published in 1997 as '' Sex, Love, and Friendship'' with Soble as editor. In subsequent years, Soble has edited or written many works in this field. In late 2005 he completed the central reference work in the philosophy of sex, ''Sex from Plato to Paglia''. Alan Soble was Research Professor at the

from 1986 to 2006.NYU Press page
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Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soble, Alan 1947 births 20th-century American philosophers Philosophers from Louisiana Philosophers from Texas Philosophers from Pennsylvania Philosophers of sexuality Feminist studies scholars Living people University at Buffalo alumni University of New Orleans faculty University of Texas at Austin faculty Writers from Philadelphia American ethicists Epistemologists

Life

Selected publications

See also

References