ADULTARY

Adultary

Adultery

Introduction

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.

Is Adultery wrong?

When former President Clinton was in Office, he committed it, and society did not really seem to mind, in fact, we elected him for a second term because of his honesty about the situation, or lack thereof. Not to mention the fact that his "crime" was plastered all over the television and the newspapers. So, is it safe to assume that because the President of the United States can do it, and get away with it, that it is something that has become socially acceptable in society?

However Mike Martin (1994) believes that Wasserstrom's rule-orientated approach to morality is an inadequate one. We have now seen three important views by Wasserstrom, Martin and Halwani on the questions surrounding adultery. As a relationship may deteriorate adultery may tend to serve as a buffer. I have very strong view on this and although I do not agree completely with one of the authors I rather agree with parts of each of their theories. " (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. It must be noted that this is not a commitment of what martin calls continuous strong feelings, but rather to create and sustain a relationship that is contributory to happiness. Firstly adultery is placed at the top of the list which could threaten a marriage. The second question that I feel it is important to examine is that of what is to be said about adultery, and I am not concerned if I stay within the arena of morality when I am doing this. I will, in other words that most can understand, to identify and review the major arguments that would be given by ...