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Age of Consent
| Philosophy 101 |
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Age of Consent |
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Huan Yi Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688Waukegan 
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“Consenting adults” has made me wonder: who is an adult? Is adulthood the consequence of physical maturation over a particular span of time or something more? My parents received no more than a fourth grade formal education which is all a re-emerged Poland could afford its rural citizens, (everything else including a number of languages they picked up along the way after); were they then adults? Romeo’s Juliet was thirteen, as was Edgar Allan Poe’s cousin bride, (Mohamed’s bride was nine); were they adults, (there was an article a couple of decades ago where a prospective husband defended his choice of a thirteen year old fiancé by saying she was “very mature”)? If right, wrong, good, bad are relative and/or subject to personal opinion, and pleasure can be pain, and pain pleasure, does anything beyond the mechanics of reading, writing, arithmetic, etc. need to be taught if the sole end is accomplishing the student’s adulthood? Seems important since once you’re an “adult” all sorts of things are left to you, including, for example, whether or not you’re a victim. |
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Alicat Member Elite
since 1999-05-23
Posts 4094Coastal Texas |
"Adult" depends on territorial influences, culture and laws. In the US, in most states, 16 is considered adult for a few things (like quitting school or working outside the home), 18 is considered an adult for some purposes (driver's license, cigarettes, voting), 21 for others (alcohol and everything else), 25 for earned income credit, and 27 for lower auto insurance costs. One can also be emancipated, and therefor an adult by legal standing. If the person in question is Hispanic, Catholic, or Jewish (just as examples), adulthood comes at 13, when one can legally marry. That is an aspect of culture and religion. A 13 year old can also be tried as an adult for capital crimes. Citing Juliet would be a cultural definition of adulthood, as it was common during her timeframe. Mohammed's instance would be one of culture and religion (he was raised in an atmosphere of Christianity, Judaism, and tribal beliefs), which gave not only freedom of age selection, but also quantity of spouses. Poe's selection of spouse did not go without mention, and it cost him dearly during America's Victorian prudishness in culture and laws, not just for her age but also her relation to him. |
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Skyfyre Senior Member
since 1999-08-15
Posts 1906Sitting in Michael's Lap |
There really isn't a right answer to this. Individuals mature at different rates both physically and mentally (although I suspect mental maturation would be more important in this case). The legal system, however, requires numbers. Therefore we have 18 as the age of majority and 21 as drinking age (which I personally think is ridiculous, but that is another rant). While I'm sure some cursory sociological research went into determining these numbers, I'd guess they were fairly arbitrary and err on the side of caution. So you get cases of 18-year-old young men who get caught having sex with their 16- or 17-year-old girlfriends and being labeled "sex offenders" for the remainder of their lives - complete with publicly available lists of their names and addresses even after their time has been served. They are listed with people who molest infants and young children with no effort made to distinguish one from the other. So yeah, it's a flawed system, but case-by-case examination would be flawed too as there would be too much room for abuse by "interpretation." |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
Fifty. At fifty you get to start calling yourself adult. Of course, that's just an average. Some won't make it until at least ninety.  |
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Huan Yi Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688Waukegan |
“We have to allow people the choice of those decisions, and as incredible as it may seem, their choices may have different moral standards than ours. Consenting adults, John. Until those consenting adults are harming others, it's none of our business.” “Consenting adults” at a minimum then being 13 or 9, (depending on culture and/or religion), at which point any social decision, situation, relationship not harming others is to be deemed as one of free choice and not subject to anyone else’s business, right? |
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JoshG Member
since 2004-11-16
Posts 127TX, USA |
Consenting Adults: The age of responsibility taken in totality by the individual and proven in a court of law. Once this is done everything is made available to the individual in regards to rights. The age you can go to this court would be at the discretion of the individual. The court (one for each district) would have a panel of 13 Judge's that vote as a jury would. Each judge is appointed by the community in a yearly vote. |
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