In examining and analyzing different theories and reasoning, Is adultery immoral? By Richard Wasserstrom. No, adultery isn’t always immoral by the virtue of having cases where adultery is acceptable and moral. As defined by Wasserstrom, adultery is any case of sexual activity outside of marriage. I agree with Wasserstrom’s approach that you can’t disregard the cases where extramarital sex is moral. Instead of directly answering the question, the author is attempting to understand the different components and details of adultery and sexual immorality. The analysis is evaluating moral and immoral actions and behaviour when it comes to marriage. According to Wasserstrom (1985), “immorality of such things as breaking a promise, deceiving someone, …show more content…
Marriage is thought out to be the highest form of commitment, where you vow to be together for the rest of your life. When a spouse is involved in extramarital sex, it goes against the integrity of matrimonial ethics and standards. The action of having sexual activities outside of marriage with someone not being your spouse will be treated and expressed as unethical and immoral. The principles and actions of extramarital sex fail to suffice the requirements of ethical and moral practice in a matrimonial setting. This is all true when one spouse exhibits those actions but what about cases where two spouses give each other permission to be involved in extramarital sex. Richard Wasserstrom argues the theory of open marriage is not acknowledged as immoral by the virtue of not breaking the conditions and principles in adultery and morality defined by …show more content…
The concept of marriage has changed greatly over the years. In today’s society marriage is not held in the same light it used to be. Today’s rate of divorce and committing adultery is very high. This supports one of the reason why open marriage is legal and moral. With the high rate of divorce and with adultery being inevitable, open marriage sounds like a better idea. Getting divorced and remarried breaks the conditions and principles of traditional marriage. The promise of being together for life is broken when divorce is intact. I believe it’s better to conduct an open marriage than divorce. Honesty and trustworthy are both critical aspect of any type of relationship. Those two characteristics are clearly important elements in facilitating an open marriage relationship. Form an ethical and moral standpoint, they will argue to protect marriage by preserving the relationship. Open marriage allows to form many relationship and keep the one you have currently. From this perspective, you can examine and analyze the situation by acknowledging it’s more appropriate to save the vow and commitment in marriage by assigning benefits and positive attitudes towards open marriage. The book Open Marriage: A New Life Style for Couples states that “Research has found that those who were committed to sexually open marriage cited numerous benefits, such as reduced role-playing, better marital sex and
Claude Fischer the author of Sweet Land of Conformity erroneously makes the claim that, “Our culture consists that if you marry… you are signing an explicit or implicit contract to cooperate and conform.” We feel that as Americans, people tend to stray from this ideal; this is portrayed through divorce and infidelity. In today’s corrupt society, when you marry, you are expected to be loyal based on an, “explicit or implicit contract.” But as time goes by and people become less interested and involved with their partners, we see that this claim is not true. The twisted love triangle that occurred between Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston, and Brad Pitt in 2005 demonstrates an example of infidelity which led to divorce. While Brad Pitt was married
McKeating, Henry. “Sanctions Against Adultery in Ancient Israelite Society with Some Reflection on Methodology in the Study of Old Testament Ethics.” Journal for the Study of the OldTestament. Vol. XVII (Mar. 1979).
Clearly, this essay has shown that the main factors which impact upon adultery being acceptable is being loyal, loving, and forgiveness. Adultery in all reality is actually a terrible thing and is frowned upon, but The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter prove adultery is acceptable in many ways. Life is like a pen, so any mistake made will never be able to be erased or taken back.
As time progresses, there are noticeable changes in the way that religion intervenes with the ideals and thoughts of any given general society. Numerous past problematic situations have now dwindled down to particularly that, no longer issues of the present. Regardless, the questionable issue of Adultery remains, standing true as consistently being the, “it,” scandal, being means for both religious and societal predicaments. Present to this day, the reputational damage done to an individual is massive, regarding Adultery, and people are left to decide what they can do about it, often left with very minimal choice but to accept or deny what they have done. Thus, by manipulating the clear-cut cross between reputation and religion, both the author
According to a Gallup poll conducted in 2001, 89% of Americans say that married men/women having an affair was morally unacceptable. However, when we hear about men having an affair, we are quick to jump to conclusions, and we assume their partner was not doing something right. About a scandal in relation with a New York Governor some years ago, the Doctor Laura Schlessinger expressed, “…When the wife does not focus in on the needs and the feelings, sexually, personally, to make him feel like a man, to make him feel like a success, to make him feel like her hero, he’s very susceptible to the charm of some other woman making him feel what he needs.” This statement has such a negative impact in women’s life; we are instilling a sense of guilt and low self esteem on them. Because these are the sentiments that we have been inculcated, we respond to the reading of Ethan Frome in a similar way; we disregard Ethan’s flaws and blame Zeena for all their
A man has been married to his wife for seven years. The couple has two beautiful children, a fabulous home, and appear to have the perfect marriage. After the husband leaves work one afternoon, he decides to stop in at the local bar. The man sits at a table in the corner of the room. Not long after his arrival, a woman approaches him. She asks the man if she can join him at his table. The two seem to have quite a bit in common and enjoy each other’s company. The woman asks if he would like to go back to her apartment. He has not had a fight with his wife today. In fact, she surprised him with a love note in his briefcase. Their sex life is enjoyable, frequent, and without complaint. The couple is not currently having financial problems. Despite this, why did the man decide to leave with a stranger and cheat on his wife? A great deal of research has been carried out on the topic of infidelity. Marital therapists have reported that more than half of the couples they counsel are in therapy as a result of infidelity (Atkins, Jacobson citation). Therapists also consider an extramarital affair as, “one of the most damaging relationship events and one of the most difficult problems to treat in couples therapy” (whisman predicting sexual infidelity…). Some therapists estimate that 50% to 65% of couples seek help after an incident of infidelity in their relationship (Atkins, Jacobson & Baucom). Identifying the reasons for this problem are essential to the success of its reduction. Infidelity is not a new phenomenon. However, there was little research on the topic until the late 1970’s (Drigotas & Barta, 2001). Numerous factors have been examined while trying to determine the root cause for extramarital relationships a...
Marriage is a commitment that seems to be getting harder to keep. The social standards placed on an individual by society and influenced by the media inevitably lead some to consider divorce as a “quick-fix” option. “Have it your way” has become a motto in the United States. It has become a country without any consideration of the psychological effects of marriage and divorce. The overwhelmingly high divorce rate is caused by a lack of moral beliefs and marital expectations.
Infidelity is depicted as an extremely negative thing in the United States, and is often blamed for trust issues, psychologically damaging the spouse and their children, tearing apart marriages and families and more. People who commit adultery are often shamed and told how wrong what they did is and what a terrible person they are for doing it. According to the Journal of Martial and Family by the Associated Press, however, 41% of “marriages where one or both spouses admit to infidelity, either physical or emotional.” Clearly, while infidelity is generally viewed negative by society, many people either decide that it is not as negative as it is portrayed, or do not care and do it anyway. “The Lady with the Pet Dog” and “The Storm” both go against the typical view of adultery being a negative thing in a relationship by showing that it can actually have a beneficial outcome and leave some, if not all people happier.
In this paper I am writing about marriage and infidelity in modern life and the books we have read in class. Marriage is a mutual bond in which a man and a woman decide to be with each other until they die. Infidelity is basically when the man or woman in a relationship cheat on the other person, without them knowing.
In today’s society, adultery is not viewed as it would have been viewed back in the 1600’s. Adultery is defined as a voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse. In society today, people understand that it is not right to commit adultery, despite knowing that it is often done more. Adultery is committed more now, in the view of its not a punishable act, as it was in the 1600’s. Committing adultery in the 1600’s was considered committing one of the sins that can not be forgiven. Many people were killed for this type of act, however as generations past people begin to view adultery differently.
In the early centuries, in a relationship men were the unfaithful ones in dating and also in a marriage, women didn’t have the equality in rights as a worthy person. “Men did not commit infidelity more than women, and no sex differences were found regarding the type of
Extramarital Affairs are looked down upon around the world. Once people get married they pledge to stay together till death to them apart. In many cases these couples are unhappy with their marriage, and they become uninterested in their life partner.Many of these couples have extramarital affairs. Statistics show that “60 percent of men and 40 percent of women are involved in extramarital affair.”(divinecaroline.com, 2013). Also more couples are breaking their vows of commitment to their marriage and staying together.They result in family members such as the spouse being emotionally scarred especially children. Also children living with one parent are more likely to go into depression, commit illegal acts, and do worse in school.
Adultery is a horrible sin to commit, but it can actually be avoided, although many people in today's society respond differently based on their religion and culture. When a person commits adultery they fail in keeping his/her commitment to their partner. When adultery happens the trust is broken in the relationship and the other person will feel deceived and betrayed.
This article, “An Examination of Potential Attractions of Women’s Marital Infidelity,” was published in 2014 in The American Journal of Family Therapy. The purpose of the article is to examine the process of infidelity and the steps that women take in order to cheat on their spouses. The question regarding what defines infidelity is widely debated in today’s world, particularly with the growth and use of technology. Because marital infidelity is on the rise, this article serves to examine the reasons that it occurs in order to help solve the problem. Women were interviewed about the process of infidelity and reported that three factors largely influenced their behavior. These factors that contribute to cheating are the developing of an extramarital
The first form of adultery is Accidental Infidelity. This can happen to the more careless person, but at the same time, to the person whose values and commitments are tenuous. They lack self-control and respect for both themselves and their spouse. Any situation where they are left alone with the opposite sex is an opportunity for an “accident” to occur. It was shocking to find out that most cases of infidelity occur with couples who are less than twenty -five years old, one would have thought early marriages where happy and care free (figure one).