Tina Bai Ethics-Christopher Noble Short Reflection Paper-due 9/20/13 On Eric Caves Contract Conception of the Marriage Bond

Contracts are inherently mutually beneficial. In entering marriage, individuals constitute a contract between each other-in other words, two people agree to certain sets of obligations and rights comprising their union. The terms of said contract is largely at the behest of the state, and can only be made valid or dissolved through legal means. The two individuals tied together by the contract are both privy to their legal unions benefits: Tax breaks, financial reassurance, and familial rights. However, as contracts are legally binding devices, marriages founded on those devices put legal obligations before extralegal relational responsibilities. Though a contractual marriage fulfills basic legal aspects of such a union, a marriage bond premised upon a contract threatens the romantic love aspect of marriage. By our nature, we humans seek out and desire companionship-satiated only through marriage. Following Aquinas arguments in Summa Theologica, we have a natural inclination towards activities that produce happiness. If we assume this statement to hold true, then marriage must be the ultimate producer of happinesswhat other earthly relationship vows to cherish and hold one another till death do us part, through sickness and health? Forging and following a contractual marriage bond threatens the efforts of most individuals to foster, sustain, or develop their love relationships. Marriage should not be stripped

of its caritas and deconstructed into a rickety structure founded on legal contracts fails to recognize the most important function of marriage and the ultimate good-happiness.