sexual ethics - extramarital Flashcards
stats
- 84% of people disapproved of extra-marital sex, did not change in 30 years leading up to 2012
OT
o Exodus 20:1, ‘thou shalt not commit adultery’
o Leviticus 18:20, ‘do not have sexual relations with her whilst your wife is living’
o Deuteronomy 5:18, ‘you shall not commit adultery’
o Leviticus 20:10, ‘if a man commits adultery with another man’s wife – with the wife of his neighbour – both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death’
NT
o Matt 19:9 – ‘I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.’
o Sermon on the Mount – emphasises 10 Commandment, looks at intention behind adultery specifically. Don’t look at people lustfully.
o 1 Cor 6:9-10 – ‘Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdomofGod? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers’.
o John 8:7 – A woman is accused of adultery, Jesus does not condone but says, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.”
society
- Society
o Society is more secular now, but adultery continues
o Vows of marriage religious and non-religious are life-long and committed. Adultery breaks trust
o Adultery is still not accepted, in some countries e.g. Saudi Arabia, adultery can be prosecuted with flogging, death penalty etc.
o Remains a crime in some US states e.g. Utah, Alabama, South Carolina etc. - Is adultery ever acceptable?
o A woman is married to a man who drinks heavily and beats her. She is at home with two young children, she feels a responsibility to them and considers that she must maintain the marriage in their interests. (Peter Vardy)
NL
o Telos of sex = procreation, adultery is often sex for pleasure
o PP
♣ Ordered society?
♣ Procreation
o NL goes in hand with revealed theology, Bible is clearly against adultery
o Extramarital sex goes against sacrament of marriage
o Church allows people to live apart if their marriage is so unbearable, but would not condone adultery/divorce, and rather encourage reconciliation
+ NL
+ John Finnis, marriage is a basic good and this includes sexual union
+ Germain Grisez, seeking marriage in the Biblical sense of a one-flesh unbreakable union
+ NO ambiguity
+ Adultery teaching respects Bible and helps keep sacrament of marriage
+ Value the vows made in front of God about faithfulness etc.
+ Will result in an ordered society, may reach eudaimonia
- NL
- Some situations are too complex for an absolutist NL approach e.g. Fletcher’s Mrs Bergman, Vardy’s example
- Heavily linked to RCC teachings on divorce. Sometimes divorce is the most loving thing
- No distinction between polygamy and adultery
Not relevant in highly sexualised society of today with more secular ideas and open adultery in media
SE
- Situation ethics and extramarital
o Love is only criteria inside/outside marriage in sexual ethics
o Agape (not eros)
♣ Sacrificial love – adultery can hurt others
o 6 Props
♣ Love is justice in action – depends on situation
♣ Teleological, depends on situation
o E.g. Sacrificial adultery in WWII, Mrs Bergman
+ - SE
+ Distinction between different types of love, eros vs. agape
- Barclay, extreme examples
Conflict of love, you can have agape outside marriage and for family within marriage
kant
o Duty
♣ Deontological, adultery is always wrong
♣ Duty of marriage is to be faithful
o 1st CI
♣ Cannot be universalised, cannot will everyone to do it
♣ Adultery must be analysed in the context of the hurt that it causes (teleological)
♣ You cannot universalise the maxim, ‘I ought to have an affair’ as it goes against the nature of marriage which is faithful union for life
♣ Goes against nature of the marriage promises, promise keeping can be universalised
♣ Adultery is contrary to sound reason
o 2nd CI
♣ Sex is for pleasure, means to an end
♣ A man wishes to satisfy his desire and a woman hers, they stimulate each other’s desire; their inclinations meet, but their object is not human nature but sex, and each of them dishonours the human nature of the other. They make of humanity an instrument of their lusts and inclinations, and dishonour it by placing on a level with animal nature.
♣ Adultery is not in line with human rationality
♣ Lustful sex is animalistic, against human reason
♣ Kant believed adultery is a temporary affair based on sex rather than true companionship, exploitative
+ kant
+ Respects human dignity
+ Maintains worth and respect for spouse through keeping vows
+ Stresses importance of vows and promise keeping
+ Allows to reach kingdom of ends
+ Separates lust sex from reason and sex for procreation in marriage
- kant
- Duty may be in conflict in the case of an unhappy marriage, duty to family vs. self vs. husband
- Makes it seem like all adulterers’ relationships are about lust, nothing more. Reductionist
Some promises need to be broken – negative of absolutism
bentham
o Bentham
♣ Teleological – look towards end, could justify adultery
• But must take into consideration the pleasure vs. pain of those affected
♣ Consequentialist – happy in adultery vs. reconciliation of marriage
• Must look at consequences of both, BUT they are unpredictable
♣ Hedonistic – adultery seeks pleasure
♣ Quantitative – hard to measure quantity of pleasure caused by relationship vs. pain caused to family
♣ Act Utilitarian – examine situation
• Absolutists would say adultery is always wrong (84% of the pop)
♣ Reduce pain first before increasing pleasure – maybe more pain caused by breakup before the pleasure of the relationship
♣ Principle of Utility – negative impact of adultery can affect more people than the positive effect on the two people
♣ HC
• Purity
• Intensity
• Duration
• (All depends on situation and relationship)
mill
o Mill – ahead of his time
♣ Marriage should be two persons of cultivated faculties, identical in opinion and purposes, between whom there exists the best kind of equality, similarity of powers and capacity’
♣ IF adultery would hurt the woman, then it would not be seen as in accordance with the principle of utility, it may bring emotional pleasure to the adulterer, it could bring emotional pain to family etc.
♣ Had strong views regarding divorce, if someone acted in a way to encourage another to rely upon him acting in a certain way i.e. faithfulness in marriage, then there are a series of moral obligations toward that person
♣ Mill would not see affairs as morally right (BUT… context, had adulterous relationship with Harriet Taylor)
Anthony Harvey
Said the social consequences of adultery are too damaging for it to be tolerated
