The meaning of marriage in Western culture refers to a life-long monogamous commitment. The decision to get married, therefore, entails that the individual denies his future self the possibility of re-evaluating its commitment.
If the individual is aware of the strenuous demands of marriage, and cannot live up to them, he ought not get married. However, if he chooses to get married, a later desire to get divorced is, in effect, invalidated by the meaning of the commitment which he made.
Thus, to get divorced demonstrates a cognitive failing - a failure to understand the meaning of marriage. Whether it is immoral, however, to break a promise which is fundamentally imprudent and irrational is less clear.
2006-12-18
22:58:19
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10 answers
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asked by
Christopher L
1
in
Philosophy