Promise Making and the Ethics of Divorce (Vlog)

Marriage creates special obligations between spouses. What is the basis of these obligations? According to philosopher Justin McBrayer, "Marriage creates moral obligations primarily because it involves promise-making." See his really nice article, "The Morality of Getting Divorced." If promise-making is at the heart of marital obligations, the permissibility of divorce will be determined (in part) by the content of one's promises. If ending a marriage means I'll break promises to my spouse, then it might be morally impermissible to do so. McBrayer writes:

There are two take-away thoughts. First, we should be very careful with the promises that we make to our marriage partner on our wedding day. These promises ground special moral obligations, and yet they are all too often vague, unclear, or impossible to fulfill. Partners entering into a marriage should have explicit conversations about their expectations for the future, the promises they are willing to make to one another, and the unconditional or conditional nature of such promises. Second, we should also be very careful about the decision to get a divorce. Whether a divorce is morally permissible depends on a great many things, including the content of the promises made between the partners."

I've doubts about whether promise-making is responsible for the kinds of responsibilities that ordinarily come with marriage. Watch the short video below for my thoughts (or if you want to have your mind blown1..of if you're just really bored...and don't mind the #covidbeard 😎).