Relationship Wrongs

Elizabeth Brake (Rice University), Elizabeth Brake (Arizona State University)

This is an online event. Abstract: There are certain wrongs distinctive to intimate personal relationships. I call these ‘relationship wrongs’. While such wrongs are widespread in ordinary life and morally significant, they are philosophically under-explored. I argue that intimate personal relationships create characteristic vulnerabilities which relationship wrongs exploit, including i) the essential features of such relationships and also ii) the social norms and expectations typically surrounding such relationships. These wrongs all share a distinctive betrayal of trust. I argue that relationship wrongs are not simply failures to perform special obligations, but a distinct class of wrongs.