Grappling with the Gray #57: Lady in Waiting?

Grappling with the Gray

What happens when the implicit conditions of a relationship change?
What is the difference between a contract and a covenant?
What effect do pragmatism and expedience have on our core values?
These are some of the topics the ethics panel takes up on this episode of Grappling with the Gray.
Here is our ethical dilemma:
A man posed this question to an ethicist:
"My wife is ill and lives in a nursing home. Is there anything wrong with me taking a mistress?"
There are any number of variables that might make this question more or less compelling:
Would it matter if the wife suffered from dementia or Alzheimer’s and no longer knew who her husband was? What if she were brain-dead and had no awareness at all?
Would it matter if the wife were likely to recover and return home in a matter of weeks or months? What if the wife willingly gave her consent?
What if the wife weren't ill at all but the couple agreed to have an open marriage? Is there anything intrinsically unethical or immoral about taking marriage vows and then agreeing to relax or discard the implicit conditions of those vows?
Finally, is there a social cost to redefining marriage in particular and relationships in general? Are there benefits that might offset those costs?
Meet this week’s panelists:
Mark Brown, CSP is a world champion speaker, an executive coach, and an artificial intelligence software advisor.
Laura Elizabeth Gray is a Passionate People Connector, Columnist, Author, and Development Director of The ALS Association Northern Ohio Chapter.
Dr. Robyn Odegaard is known as the Mental MacGyver. She provides luxury level, high performance support and coaching to executives, founders, celebrities and athletes. She is also the creator and facilitator of the Quick Hits podcast.
#ethics #relationships #mindset #commitment #grappling