Introduction

The Articles in this Symposium vividly demonstrate that the reason that the pornography debate is no longer at the forefront of national consciousness is surely not that the phenomenon itself has disappeared. Nor is it that we have achieved anything approaching consensus, for we cannot seem to agree even about what pornography is, much less about its harms or benefits. Nor is it even that we have suddenly discovered and begun to deploy, from tools long available in our legal arsenal, enforcement strategies promising cures less harmful than the disease. Quite the . contrary. As the editors of this journal have discerned,’ the dilemma posed by pornography to a free society persists, and it continues to raise a kaleidoscope of legal issues. The editors have solicited articles from authors with an astonishing array of viewpoints; each perspective generates useful insights into this most perplexing topic. I shall take the remainder of this Introduction to provide the reader with a brief road map to what follows, with the hope of facilitating a sense of where the pieces fit within the ongoing struggle to define the issues.