Moral Philosophy

Paper Summary:

This paper takes a look at the philosophy of a moral dilemma. This paper discusses the sad scenario of the unfaithful wife known as "Jane" who finds herself faced with two equally unpleasant choices that are the consequences of her infidelity. The paper reviews and discusses these choices from different moral and philosophical perspectives.

From the Paper:

"The advocate of social contract theory would stress that marriage is a social contract. When Jane violated this social contract, she did not merely personally cause her husband to feel bad. She also caused a rift in one of the institutions that uphold modern society. Even if no one is directly harmed by her actions, by devaluing the institution of marriage, either her own or the institution of the man whom she transgressed with, she is still doing harm to society. A social contract theorist would care little about Jane, her husband's, or the other man's feelings like a virtue ethicist. Rather the theorist would view Jane's decisions from a societal rubric, and point out that if every person felt free to be unfaithful, the moral fabric of society would completely disintegrate. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Rachels, James. The Elements of Moral Philosophy. 4th edition. McGraw-Hill, 2001.

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