- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
- Messages
- 14,177
- Reaction score
- 21,230
- Location
- California
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Slightly Conservative
Last week, many forum members here engaged in a spirited debate over the legalization of prostitution, and something that was brought up regularly was that happens between two consenting adults is of no one else's concern. And this seemed to be the consensus view of most of the folks in favor of prostitution: That which is consensually agreed to between two or more adult parties should be permitted. But this brought up many other tangential issues, and it made me wonder: Should consent have its limits?
Moving away from the topic of prostitution: Could someone who wishes to work for below minimum wage consent to being paid less in order to find employment, even if doing so undercuts the labor market? Going to a more extreme case, could someone suffering from suicidal depression consent to having someone who fantasizes about murder kill him, and thus making what would normally be considered murder more akin to legalized euthanasia? Or should people be allowed by the state to freely enter into multiple suicide pacts without any interference? The possibilities of personal decisions that many would find harmful to outright appalling are endlessly varied. So should consent have limits? If not, why not? And if so, what should those limitations be?
EDIT: Unfortunately, I was not able to post the poll in time and I ran past the five minute limitation. The options were as follows:
1) Yes, there should be some form of limitation on what an adult person can consent to.
2) No, so long as the parties involved are adults, there should be no limits to what a person can consent to, even if it is permanently destructive or debilitating to one or more of the parties involved.
3) I cannot decide.
4) Other.
Moving away from the topic of prostitution: Could someone who wishes to work for below minimum wage consent to being paid less in order to find employment, even if doing so undercuts the labor market? Going to a more extreme case, could someone suffering from suicidal depression consent to having someone who fantasizes about murder kill him, and thus making what would normally be considered murder more akin to legalized euthanasia? Or should people be allowed by the state to freely enter into multiple suicide pacts without any interference? The possibilities of personal decisions that many would find harmful to outright appalling are endlessly varied. So should consent have limits? If not, why not? And if so, what should those limitations be?
EDIT: Unfortunately, I was not able to post the poll in time and I ran past the five minute limitation. The options were as follows:
1) Yes, there should be some form of limitation on what an adult person can consent to.
2) No, so long as the parties involved are adults, there should be no limits to what a person can consent to, even if it is permanently destructive or debilitating to one or more of the parties involved.
3) I cannot decide.
4) Other.
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