Multiple Relationships
Multiple relationships, being in not just one relationship but more. Why is it so connected to ethics? For the reason that generally, when we hear it the first time, we most likely to think of infidelity, a betrayal to a partner. And infidelity is related to ethics, opposition that is. How could we possibly overcome this?
We must first recognize what ethics is, and then figure out why people engage in multiple relationships.
According to the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics of Santa Clara University, ethics is two things. First, ethics refers to well based standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of one’s ethical standards.
These ethical standards pertain to sensible duty to avoid doing criminal acts, to initiate virtues and issues on rights which are sustained by reliable and justifiable grounds. Ethics could also mean that we should stay to live up to what society had strongly built.
This means to say that ethics cannot be lock up to religion, for religion could only relate to religious people and anything concerning with religion. Same thing with law which often included these ethical standards that most general public follow yet it can be disagreed to but with punishments to be face.
There are reasons why people engage in multiple relationships: they are unsatisfied with their partner, can it by intimacy, passion, commitment; they can no longer get hold of long-distance relationship; they saw somebody better or basically they just fell out of love, and that they cannot afford not to have a companion, that is, they don’t want to be alone.
Multiple relationships deviate to ethics when it supposedly mess up one’s own objectivity, competence, or effectiveness in performing his or her functions in society, or if not risks exploitation or harm the person with whom he or she has relationship with.
But no matter how ethics intervenes to this issue, we cannot get away with the fact that influence of media which involves liberal behavior leads to having rational minds and non-judgmental attitude in understanding multiple relationships. We became so open with such possibilities that these things happen without preferences. There are really people who cannot settle with just one relationship, unsatisfied with what they have, and leads to finding and having somebody else to be with.
Bibliography
Multiple Relationships and APA’s New Ethics Code: Values and Applications
By Dr. Stephen Behnke, APA Ethics Director
Print version: page 66 : Standard 3.05 Multiple Relationships
http://www.apa.org/monitor/jan04/ethics.html
What is Ethics? Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer., Surveyed by Sociologist Raymond Baumhart
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html
