I think we should ask:
1. Is adultery a crime and/or should it be a crime?
2. Should encouraging or enabling adultery be a crime? (should for example a cell phone app that's primary function is to assist adulterers in keeping their affairs secret be made illegal? )
3. Should profiting from adultery be a crime?
Originally posted by twhitehead1. No
I think we should ask:
1. Is adultery a crime and/or should it be a crime?
2. Should encouraging or enabling adultery be a crime? (should for example a cell phone app that's primary function is to assist adulterers in keeping their affairs secret be made illegal? )
3. Should profiting from adultery be a crime?
2. No
3. No
As free adults, we should be free to make our own decisions; our own mistakes.
Originally posted by Ghost of a DukeI do not believe we are free to make our own decisions about other peoples property for example, so there are clearly limits to what mistakes we are free to make.
As free adults, we should be free to make our own decisions; our own mistakes.
I think it partly depends on what you think of the marriage contract. Is it a legal contract and is faithfulness part of the contract. Also, to what extent is a spouse that is cheated on harmed.
-Removed-Treating marriage as a contract like any other can have its difficulties. In 18th and early 19th Century England divorce was illegal. They reasoned that as a contract it was possible for a third party to buy out a marriage - so they had wife auctions instead [1].
I tend to agree with the direction your posts seem to be in, there's something wrong with people who set up sites like that. I think, but don't know, that there are laws against attempting to induce people to break contracts. Certainly someone in a marriage which had broken down due to adultery could reasonably sue the website if they thought it contributed to or even caused the breakdown of their marriage.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wife_selling_(English_custom)
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-Removed-And again, I ask, what does that have to do with it? The issue here has to do with whether it is legal or moral. I don't think any free market advocates suggest commercial freedom should be extended to marketing illegal products. You might as well call locking up a fence for stolen goods 'a poke in the eye for the free market'.
Apparently, according to the article a French law is being violated - did you read it?
Yes, I did. It did not specify what law exactly was being violated.
Common sense for some could be that promotion of adultery contributes to social malfunction.
OK. Although I disagree that its a straight forward conclusion.
-Removed-There is a difference between a crime and a violation of contract. One is prosecuted by the state on its behalf, the other is prosecuted by the plaintiff, a private party, on its behalf.
The French law reads "Married partners owe each other the duty of respect, fidelity, help and assistance."
I believe this creates at most, a contractual obligation between husband and wife, but the plaintiff, who would in this case be the husband, is free to decide whether to bring suit. However, right now the lawsuit is between two other parties. I am wondering what harm has been done by the website owners to the plaintiff.
-Removed-I agree with JS357 that breaking a contract is not generally considered a criminal offence.
When thinking about this thread, I did consider whether or not someone whose wife was unfaithful and had secretly a child with a different man could later on sue for all the costs of raising a child that was not his own.