The Metaphysics of Sexual Orientation: A Pluralist Account

In this paper, I use Sally Haslanger\u27s ameliorative inquiry to examine the metaphysics of sexual orientation. The guiding question is: what is sexual orientation? The project is both a descriptive and prescriptive effort: I seek to describe the everyday concept of sexual orientation and prescribe a concept of sexual orientation that fulfills the aims of the contemporary queer movement. Unique to this project is my use of grounding and anchoring – metaphysical tools. I evaluate leading contemporary proposals from Robin Dembroff, Matthew Andler, and Esa Diaz-Leon. I then propose an alternative interpretation: a pluralist account