83 Croatian Journal of Philosophy Vol. XXV, No. 73, 2025 https://doi.org/10.52685/cjp.25.73.6 Received: August 12, 2024 Accepted: March 18, 2025 Must Pornography Be Passed Over in Silence? CAROLA BARBERO and ALBERTO VOLTOLINI University of Turin, Turin, Italy This paper critically examines leading feminist philosophical argu- ments asserting that inegalitarian pornography inherently perpetuates the objectification and silencing of women, thereby warranting moral condemnation or legal restriction. While recognizing the seriousness of these concerns, we argue that neither objection holds, regardless of how objectification or silencing is conceptualized. Central to our position is the distinction between fictional and non-fictional pornography. As fic- tion, we contend, pornography does not intrinsically validate real-world beliefs or behaviors regarding women’s subordination. Even in non-fic- tional (“documentary”) contexts, the purported causal link between por- nography and harm remains unsubstantiated. The paper deliberately sets aside ethical concerns about coercion in pornography’s production (e.g., exploitation, abuse) to focus on its alleged social effects. By interro- gating the assumed mechanisms of influence—whether through fictional representation or documentary realism—we challenge the foundational premises of anti-pornography arguments and advocate for a more nu- anced assessment of pornography’s role in shaping social norms. Keywords: Pornography; objectification; silencing; feminist phi- losophy; fiction; illocutionary acts. Introduction In some influential papers, some feminist philosophers have claimed that pornography, or better inegalitarian pornography—so qualified: “sexually explicit representations that as a whole eroticize relations (acts, scenarios, or postures) characterized by gender inequity” (Eaton 2007: 676) (from now on, we will take this specification for granted) 1 — 1 For more on the distinction between egalitarian and inegalitarian pornography, cf. Eaton (2007: 676–679).