About Me

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Australian philosopher, literary critic, legal scholar, and professional writer. Based in Newcastle, NSW. My latest books are THE TYRANNY OF OPINION: CONFORMITY AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERALISM (2019); AT THE DAWN OF A GREAT TRANSITION: THE QUESTION OF RADICAL ENHANCEMENT (2021); and HOW WE BECAME POST-LIBERAL: THE RISE AND FALL OF TOLERATION (2024).

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Same-sex couples to the rescue of marriage? (New post at Talking Philosophy)

New post here. Quote:

Again, I support moves for liberal democracies to recognize same-sex marriages for those who want them. It is often argued that this will somehow undermine the institution of marriage, but it may be that the opposite is actually true: it might even help the institution’s survival if large numbers of same-sex couples value it so much and start to take part in it; it may even tend to give the institution more credibility when we currently have people fighting to gain access to it. More power to the people concerned.

All the same, what if a time comes one day when marriage no longer seems needed or especially desirable as a legal institution – perhaps if more and more people come to the view that it is not important, and if we progressively extend the legal rights that go with it to couples who are not formally married?

2 comments:

Lee said...

Single, 20- to 30-something, semi-professional to professional, wage-earning men(like myself) want two things: sex and stuff. The sexual revolution, and female liberation, has made the first widely available and within easy reach, while marriage law being what it is simply affords men the opportunity to lose half of the latter. It's a matter of demand; once the risks began to outweigh the benefits, men starting wising up and realizing that they can get(and keep) everything they want without stepping foot into a church(or gov't office, if you wish).

Men and women are slowly waking up to this fact, women with trepidation, men with something resembling elation. The women of my generation are squandering their most sexually appealing years on "independence", a choice we men are more than willing to take advantage of, and then, when the looks begin fading and the fun dries up, women are surprised that we're not interested in what's left when they finally decide to "go traditional".

Women are self-sufficient, they no longer require providers. Fine. Society largely fills the role of protector, having a monopoly on violence. Fine. These and other traditional/moral reasons that motivated men into marriage are drying up and blowing away. So traditionalists, and lgbts, can have marriage for all the good it does them, and good riddance to it.

Just my 2c. Talking Philosophy doesn't post my comments.

Greg Camp said...

I had a friend who once said that he favored legalizing gay marriage because he figured gays ought to enjoy divorce and alimony as much as the rest of us do.

When people give up on the idea that our neighbors must be like us to validate our way of living, this will no longer even be a topic for discussion.