Pedophilia and Philosophy

I'm looking for an essay or article that has a philosophical take and is about pedophilia. My boyfriend is a professor and wants an essay to introduce to his class. We have found many, but they are a little too complicated for an introductory course. We're searching for something that will get them thinking with a different perspective on pedophilia, yet not be so strong as to scare them away or make them unlikely to listen.

I'd appreciate any help you can offer.

I am confused.

What do you mean by "a philosophical take"?
What makes the articles you have found "too complicated"?

I understand the part about "get them thinking with a different perspective on pedophilia", but wouldn't that simply be covered by evolutionary psychology facts such as "people had shorter lifespans throughout most of human history", and "it made no sense not to procreate when one was fertile"?

This brings me to, by pedophilia, do you mean an attraction to PRE-pubescent children or pubescent children?
It makes a difference as to what I can find of sources for you.

What subject does he teach? And what kind of course will this form part of?

I don't know if I can recommend an article but anything Michel Foucault wrote on sexuality, "The Birth of Biopolitics", "Abnormal" or "The History of Sexuality", might be good. It raises a lot of questions about how we describe and evaluate sexual behaviour.

How about Foucault and Hocquenghem discuss abolition of age-of-consent laws in 70s France? "The Dangers of Child Sexuality".

http://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/danger.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_pet ... nsent_laws

Well, I find this intriguing: http://www.evolution-origin.co.uk/p/a.p ... _sexuality.
Especially from "10.8 A General Mechanism Producing Sexual Deviation" and onwards.

For example, homosexuality is considered and attempted explained from a utilarian evolutionary point of view:

Exclusive homosexuals are biologically sterile, so the modification of sexuality that produces homosexuality will be subject to competing evolutionary pressures. On the one hand is an evolutionary arrow that continuously strengthens it, on the other is the failure to breed of those whose sexuality is most strongly modified. The result will be an evolutionary stable state in which the population contains a stable proportion of homosexuals and bisexuals.

He's a philosophy professor at a university. The course is called "Philosophy of Sex and Love." It's a requirement for the philosophy major, but many students are not philosophy majors. The name attracts them, it would seem. So they can't be reading Hegel or Moore, for instance.

It would not be covered in such ways because the idea that "it made no sense..." is an opinion without a full argument behind it. So it would not be very convincing to the students.

I mean pedophilia or hebephilia. Either pre-pubescent or post pubescent will do (inclusive "or" intended).

Thank you for your questions. I imagine they were helpful to everyone else as well.

Also, thank you to all else who provided links for us. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Well, pedophilia and hebephilia are kind of two different things.
Hebephilia can be argued to be (more) evolutionary advantageous than pedophilia, though both attractions have the problem from an evolutionary perspective of monopolizing a not-so-fertile and unhealthy-for-reproduction partner.

Which is why throughout history, even in societies where they married too-young girls, they did not traditionally have sex with them until (some time) after puberty.

I think if you were to list a number of questions / problems, then they could be answered more directly.