[Spintowin]

The practice, desire, or acceptance of having more than one intimate relationship at a time with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved. In most Western cultures, polyamory is not socially accepted as the norm. Is this justifiable?

It could be argued that it is practically difficult to preserve intimacy in such a relationship because more people are involved; one's romantic love is divided among multiple partners. Furthermore, the consequences of the human tendency towards jealousy and possessiveness have the potential to be perhaps more detrimental than in a monoamorous partnership.

Nevertheless, if three or more people happily wish to commit to each other as a life choice, what right does anyone have to disallow this? Any complications due to the number of people is not necessarily a reasonable argument to deny it from the lives of others, as obviously each relationship comes with its different kinds of complications, which for the most part need not be a concern for anyone but the parties involved. On a personal level, I wouldn't deem it as ethically wrong by any stretch of the imagination, although I would not choose it for myself.

Should polyamory be culturally accepted in society, and should it be legally recognised (in the form of polygamy, marriage between several persons)?

[MrNucleon]

Any relationships or activities between consenting adults is perfectly acceptable (or should be).
Whether or polyamorous relationships work is another matter, but the wiki page suggest that there is virtually no difference in success rate:

"While predating the term polyamory, some research has been done on the stability of some forms of what might be considered polyamorous relationships in the Netherlands. Weitzman lists a study by Rubin and Adams in 1986 which found no differences in marital stability based on sexual exclusivity in married relationships."

For the lazy: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyamory

Also, interesting first post, spintowin.

[Annoying-Mouse]

I'm fine with one form of polyamory, polygyny.

[nicatre]

I personally believe that if everyone is fully consenting then so be it, they are all happy and contribute equally so go for it.

The social standards are important overall as through evolutionary time it helps maintain cohesion amongst groups so that they work together for a greater good. In modern days that will be one reason why it is frowned upon as the norm has evolved to be monogamous but at the end of the day as long as the individual or group aren't hurting anyone then it's all good.