The psychology of adultery has been falsified by conventional morals, which assume, in monogamous countries, that attraction to one person cannot coexist with a serious affection for another. Everybody knows that this is untrue.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Conventional morals falsely claim you cannot love one person seriously while also being attracted to another, but this is untrue.
- In plain terms
- Moral norms wrongly say you can't love two people at once.
- What can you take from it?
- Romantic feelings can coexist with attraction to others.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do societies handle non‑monogamous feelings?
- What impact does this belief have on mental health?
Another view
It overlooks cultural variations in relationship structures.
More from Bertrand Russell
Marriage is for women the commonest mode of livelihood, and the total amount of undesired sex endured by women is probably greater in marriage than in prostitu…
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