Podcast Archive 24 March 2013

Being Someone's Extramarital Affair

Q&A Radio: 24 March 2013, Question 1

I answered a question on being someone's extramarital affair on 24 March 2013. You can listen to or download the podcast of just this question below – or check out the whole episode of Philosophy in Action Radio.

Is it wrong to have a romantic relationship with a married person? In Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, Dagny Taggart had an affair with Hank Rearden, knowing that he was married. How should those actions be judged in real life? Clearly, Hank's cheating was dishonest and wrong. Was Dagny wrong to pursue the affair? What should she have done instead? Or, imagine that Dagny didn't know that Hank was married until after they'd slept together. What should she have done in that case upon finding out the truth? Should she stop the affair? Should she inform the wife about the cheating? Should she apologize to the wife? Also, if your answer is different than Dagny's, how do you reconcile that?

My Answer, In Brief: Fiction is not always the best guide: it's morally wrong and practically dangerous to be the "other man" or the "other woman" in another person's marriage.

Tags: Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Character, Honesty, Infidelity, Integrity, Moral Wrongs, Relationships, Romance, Sex

Duration: 19:00

Download: MP3 Segment (6.6 MB)

To save the file to your computer, right-click and save the link above. You can automatically download that and other podcasts by subscribing to Philosophy in Action's Podcast RSS Feed:



Enhanced M4A Feed: Subscribe via iTunes or another podcast player

Standard MP3 Feed: Subscribe via iTunes or another podcast player To save the file to your computer, right-click and save the link above. You can automatically download that and other podcasts by subscribing to Philosophy in Action's Podcast RSS Feed:

Comments

Support Philosophy in Action

The mission of Philosophy in Action is to spread rational principles for real life... far and wide. That's why the vast majority of my work is available to anyone, free of charge. I love doing the radio show, but each episode requires an investment of time, effort, and money to produce. So if you enjoy and value that work of mine, please contribute to the tip jar. I suggest $5 per episode or $20 per month, but any amount is appreciated. In return, contributors can request that I answer questions from the queue pronto, and regular contributors enjoy free access to premium content and other goodies. Thank you for contributing to Philosophy in Action! You make our work possible every week, and we're so grateful for that! If you enjoy Philosophy in Action, please help us spread the word about it! Tell your friends about upcoming broadcasts by forwarding our newsletter. Link to episodes or segments from our topics archive. Share our blog posts, podcasts, and events on Facebook and Twitter. Rate and review the podcast in iTunes (M4A and MP3). We appreciate any and all of that!

About Philosophy in Action