is adultery always wrong?

A detailed Summary of is adultery always wrong?

There have been many views on the subject of adultery, many reasons why a spouse would be adulterous as well as many questions linking adultery to immorality. Adultery literally refers to married persons having sexual intercourse with someone other than their spouse. Adulterous behavior can be seen to fall within the domain of morality. Richard Wasserstrom (1979) believes that there are two arguments for the immorality of adultery, these are:

1) The fact the adultery involves the "breaking of a promise" - the promise of sexual exclusivity. The breaking of a promise is very hurtful to the person who is not committing the adultery. This is one of the things that both parties promise each other when they enter into marriage.

2) The immorality of adultery is also wrong as it links deception to adultery. When this connection exists it is clear that deception is wrong and therefore so is adultery. Adultery will always contain some form of deception. For example a clear case is that of the telling of lies, but deception also occurs when no lies are told, that is when he/she has sex with someone other than their spouse and simply does not tell their spouse about it, then this is still deception. There

When we look at the keeping of commitments here we see that martin actually agrees with Wasserstrom that the prohibition against adultery is prima facie. He says that there are four complicating factors:

Halwani, R. 1998-9. "Virtue ethics and adultery". Journal of Social Philosophy 29.3.1-14

3) Where one spouse falls in love with an additional person - however is it impossible to love more that one person simultaneously? Personally I feel that it is impossible but for some, they have the capacity to do so.

presses and protects love, in two ways. Firstly adultery is placed at the top of the list which could threaten a marriage. And secondly, sexual exclusivity is the way that you can establish that fact that 'making love' is a deep valuing of each other, and is a singular affirmation of the partner.

Wasserstrom, R. 1979 "Is Adultery Immoral?" In Wasserstrom (ed.) Today's Moral Problems. New York. Macmillan.

Raja Halwani has yet another view on adultery, which is outlined, by the Kantian view. Halwani uses what is known as a virtue ethics approach. He says "to evaluate adultery is to oversimplify a matter that involves highly complex emotions, beliefs and histories." (1998) In his opinion sexual exclusivity is a promise to be a certain kind of person (sexually faithful) rather that a promise in connection with a certain act. This prom

Some common words found in the essay are:
Mike Martin, Richard Wasserstrom, Martin Halwani, Raja Halwani, ADULTERY WRONG, Social Philosophy, sexual exclusivity, BIBLIOGRAPHY Halwani, adultery wrong, Immoral Wasserstrom, immorality adultery, commitment love, York Macmillan, journal social philosophy, social philosophy, journal social, martin 1994, virtue ethics, breaking promise, promise promise, Journal Social,

Approximate Word count = 912
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

join now Save Paper

Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

"Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
Jack M.
"With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
Brian P.
"I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
Sara J.
"I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
Rachel W.
"I love this site!!!"
Marie N.

is adultery always wrong?

Related Essays

Professional Essays

Saved Paper

Newest Essays

Testimonials