The Pornography Controversy: Changing Moral Standards in American Life

Preface, 1. Pornography as a Social Problem: Reflections on the Relation of Morality and the Law, 2. Obscenity as an Esthetic Category, 3. Beyond the (Garbage) Pale, or Democracy, Censorship and the Arts, 4. Legislative Recommendations: Report of the Committee on Obscenity and Pornography, 5. Pornography-Raging Menace or Paper Tiger?, 6. Obscenity Laws-A Shift to Reality, 7. Pornographic Theaters Off Times Square, 8. The Pleasures of Commodity, or How to Make the World Safe for Pornography, 9. Moral Principles Towards a Definition of the Obscene, 10. The Modern Machiavellians: The Pornography of Sexual Game-Playing, 11. Night Words: High Pornography and Human Privacy, 12. The Effects of Explicit Sexual Materials: The Report of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, 13. Violence, Pornography and Social Science, 14. Polity, Politics and Social Research: A Study in the Relationship of Federal Commissions and Social Science, Bibliography, About the Contributors, Index

Ray C. Rist is senior policy analyst , National Institute of Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Washington D.C. The author of many articles, his book The Urban School: A Factory for Failure, has recently been published. He is also the editor of Restructuring American Education, published by Transaction books. His major research interests are in social policy analysis, urban education and social deviance.

Discusses governmental responsibilities and individual liberties, ethical problems of moral judgement, and legal considerations in defining and suppressing obscene material.