The two conceptions of morality and sexual life are frequently confounded and expressed by the same term in the popular usages of speech. The word “moral” is commonly used to mean sexually pure, that is to say, continent; while the word “immoral” suggests the idea of sexual incontinence and debauch. This is a misuse of words, and rests upon a confusion of ideas, for sexuality has in itself nothing to do with morality. It points, however, to the undoubted fact that the sexual impulse, since it has other human beings as its object, easily leads to moral conflicts within the breast of the individual.
It will be convenient to discuss our subject under the two heads: I. Of ethics in general; and II. Of sexual ethics in particular.