Status
Available
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Publication
George Allen & Unwin Ltd (1955), Edition: sixth Impression
Description
Marriage and Morals is a compelling cross-cultural examination of individual, familial and societal attitudes towards sex and marriage. By exploring the codes by which we live our sexual lives and conventional morality, Russell daringly sets out a new morality, shaped and influenced by dramatic changes in society such as the emancipation of women and the wide-spread use of contraceptives. From the origin of marriage to the influence of religion, Russell explores the changing role of marriage and codes of sexual ethics. The influence of this great work has turned it into a worthy classic.
User reviews
LibraryThing member fundevogel
I picked this one up in hopes that my favorite philosopher might have some good I ideas on what marriage ought to be. I'm largely unsatisfied with the institution of marriage and knew Russell was as well. The first several chapters dealing with the history of marriage and the evolution of marriage
His observations on sexual education and the general unhealthiness of Victorian stigmatizing of sex was similarly interesting and frequently scathingly sarcastic. I copied a few quotes I liked:
"It would be wise to subject all unmarried women once a month to medical examination by police doctors, and to send to a penitentiary all such as were found to be not virgins...in order to avoid the risk of certain abuses, it would be necessary that all policemen and all medical men should be castrated." --on maintaining virtue at any cost--
"The first essential is that the education of girls should be such as to make them stupid and superstitious and ignorant; this requisite is already fulfilled in schools over which the churches have any control." --on maintaining virtue through ignorance--
"Sex outside of marriage is sin; sex within marriage is not sin... but is a disagreeable duty imposed on man as punishment for the Fall, and to be undertaken in the same spirit in which one submits to a surgical operation. Unfortunately, unless great pains are taken, the sexual act tends to be associated with pleasure, but by sufficient moral care this can be prevented, at any rate in the female."
However when it came to his actual views on what marriage ought to be I found him more reactionary than reasonable in several aspects. He did however explain the system of companionate marriage proposed in the 1920's and I found that suitable for my own future-hypothetical marriage.
I'd recommend this book to people interested in the history of marriage, but also in the idea that the marriage institution is a human invention and one that may better serve us with a bit of reworking and personalization.
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in various cultures were fascinating (though a student of anthropology will recognize some things as dated).His observations on sexual education and the general unhealthiness of Victorian stigmatizing of sex was similarly interesting and frequently scathingly sarcastic. I copied a few quotes I liked:
"It would be wise to subject all unmarried women once a month to medical examination by police doctors, and to send to a penitentiary all such as were found to be not virgins...in order to avoid the risk of certain abuses, it would be necessary that all policemen and all medical men should be castrated." --on maintaining virtue at any cost--
"The first essential is that the education of girls should be such as to make them stupid and superstitious and ignorant; this requisite is already fulfilled in schools over which the churches have any control." --on maintaining virtue through ignorance--
"Sex outside of marriage is sin; sex within marriage is not sin... but is a disagreeable duty imposed on man as punishment for the Fall, and to be undertaken in the same spirit in which one submits to a surgical operation. Unfortunately, unless great pains are taken, the sexual act tends to be associated with pleasure, but by sufficient moral care this can be prevented, at any rate in the female."
However when it came to his actual views on what marriage ought to be I found him more reactionary than reasonable in several aspects. He did however explain the system of companionate marriage proposed in the 1920's and I found that suitable for my own future-hypothetical marriage.
I'd recommend this book to people interested in the history of marriage, but also in the idea that the marriage institution is a human invention and one that may better serve us with a bit of reworking and personalization.
Show Less
LibraryThing member pjsullivan
Said Russell, "There is no country in the world ... where sexual ethics and sexual institutions have been determined by rational considerations." In this book he suggests that the system in vogue in Western civilization should be amended by the application of rational considerations. This got him
On page 96 Russell states that marriage need not “exclude other sex relations.” This upset many people. He calls for sexual freedom among childless couples, and divorce by mutual consent. He approves of trial marriages among the young, assuming the effectiveness of contraception. He decries irrational guilt, inhibitions, and taboos. Of course, relationships that procreate children call for a much more complicated ethic. Published in 1929, this book knew nothing of HIV-AIDS and the changes it brought, but most of its arguments stand up well to the test of time. His views on population seem dated, because the demographics have changed.
A provocative book, whether or not you agree with his views.
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into a lot of trouble! Some of his views were controversial, but he defended them with formidable logic. And what did he mean by “rational considerations”? That’s what this book is about.On page 96 Russell states that marriage need not “exclude other sex relations.” This upset many people. He calls for sexual freedom among childless couples, and divorce by mutual consent. He approves of trial marriages among the young, assuming the effectiveness of contraception. He decries irrational guilt, inhibitions, and taboos. Of course, relationships that procreate children call for a much more complicated ethic. Published in 1929, this book knew nothing of HIV-AIDS and the changes it brought, but most of its arguments stand up well to the test of time. His views on population seem dated, because the demographics have changed.
A provocative book, whether or not you agree with his views.
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Subjects
Original publication date
1929
Other editions
Marriage and Morals by Bertrand Russell (Paperback)