The General Concept of Sexual Orientation

ABSTRACT

Philosophical concepts of sexual orientation understand it in terms of sex/gender‐based attraction. I argue that this lacks proper justification by rejecting seven reasons given in its support. I defend the broader “General Concept”: One's sexual orientation consists of those sexual attractions that are stable and important to one's psychosexual identity. I explain and defend these two conditions and then provide six reasons in support of the General Concept. I conclude with a possible world in which our concept of sexual orientation is age based so as to clarify how our current concepts of sexual orientation are products of our contingent history.