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Marriage and the norm of monogamy

Marriage and the norm of monogamy
Marriage and the norm of monogamy
It appears that spouses have less reason to hold each other to a norm of monogamy than to reject the norm. The norm of monogamy involves a restriction of spouses' access to two things of value: sex and erotic love. This restriction initially appears unwarranted but can be justified. There is reason for spouses to accept the norm of monogamy if their marriage satisfies three conditions. Otherwise, there is reason to permit non-monogamy. Some spouses have reason to accept the norm of monogamy because this will avoid reasonable hurt and prevent diversion of resources needed to sustain the marriage. Other spouses have reason to permit non-monogamy to allow the spouses access to aspects of a well-rounded life. The choice to be either monogamous or non-monogamous can also be non-instrumentally valuable if chosen for the right reasons.
0026-9662
506-522
Woollard, Fiona
c3caccc2-68c9-47c8-b2d3-9735d09f1679
Weaver, Bryan R.
e87e41d1-8bf3-4678-a0a2-0e8754f011e7
Woollard, Fiona
c3caccc2-68c9-47c8-b2d3-9735d09f1679
Weaver, Bryan R.
e87e41d1-8bf3-4678-a0a2-0e8754f011e7

Woollard, Fiona and Weaver, Bryan R. (2008) Marriage and the norm of monogamy. [in special issue: Marriage] The Monist, 91 (3 & 4), 506-522.

Record type: Article

Abstract

It appears that spouses have less reason to hold each other to a norm of monogamy than to reject the norm. The norm of monogamy involves a restriction of spouses' access to two things of value: sex and erotic love. This restriction initially appears unwarranted but can be justified. There is reason for spouses to accept the norm of monogamy if their marriage satisfies three conditions. Otherwise, there is reason to permit non-monogamy. Some spouses have reason to accept the norm of monogamy because this will avoid reasonable hurt and prevent diversion of resources needed to sustain the marriage. Other spouses have reason to permit non-monogamy to allow the spouses access to aspects of a well-rounded life. The choice to be either monogamous or non-monogamous can also be non-instrumentally valuable if chosen for the right reasons.

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Published date: October 2008

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 184553
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/184553
ISSN: 0026-9662
PURE UUID: efdf1b6e-fd62-4745-a4e7-608f3b9d4f35

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Date deposited: 06 May 2011 08:21
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 03:08

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Contributors

Author: Fiona Woollard
Author: Bryan R. Weaver

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