Washington Votes Forum

If so, then the conclusion must be that adultery is not morally wrong as such. It is wrong only in so far as it inflicts pain or suffering on the other spouse, or leads one to lie or otherwise deceive one's spouse, or constitutes cheating, or breach of promise or commitment. And when it does, it is the pain or suffering inflicted, or deception, or promise-breaking, etc. that is wrong, and not the fact of extramarital sex in itself. Buy Alesse now with No Prescription required online pharmacy generic pills.

There is, however, one more argument to consider, more complex and interesting than those discussed so far. It is also an argument from deception; but it brings up a kind of deception embedded in sexual experience itself, rather than in whatever one might say or imply by saying nothing about it. In our society, it might be maintained, sex is not simply a source of a certain kind of pleasure, which might be experienced with another person without necessarily having and conveying any deeply personal and important feelings about that person such as affection and love. Our society understands sex as bound up with such feelings; therefore sex in our society expresses, and is normally taken to express, such feelings. Furthermore, one can have such feelings only for one other person at a time. Accordingly, as Richard Wasserstrom puts it, it can be argued that extramarital sex will almost always involve deception of a deeper sort. If the adulterous spouse does not in fact have the appropriate feelings of affection for the extramarital partner, then the adulterous spouse is deceiving that person about the presence of such feelings. If, on the other hand, the adulterous spouse does have the corresponding feelings for the extramarital partner but not toward the nonparticipating spouse, the adulterous spouse is very probably deceiving the nonparticipating spouse about the presence of such feelings toward that spouse…. Thus extramarital sex involves deception of this sort and is for that reason immoral even if no deception vis-a-vis the occurence of the act of adultery takes place.

If valid, this argument shows not only the immorality of adultery, but also the immorality of having sex with more than one person at a certain time in one's life. This may be thought either a flaw or an advantage. But is the argument valid?

It claims two vital connections: between sex and deep personal feelings such as affection and love, and between these feelings and exclusivity. And, as Wasserstrom goes on to argue, both these connections can be questioned. And both can be questioned at two levels: the level of fact, and that of value.