Harvard law journal article defends marriage

December 17, 2010

Princeton University politics professor Robert George and two doctoral candidates have coauthored an article in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy defending marriage as the union of one man and one woman. George writes that

those who would redefine civil marriage to eliminate sexual complementarity as an essential element, can give no principled account of why marriage should be (1) a sexual partnership as opposed to a partnership distinguished by exclusivity with respect to other activities (including non-sexual relationships, as between cohabiting adult brothers); or (2) an exclusive union of only two persons (rather than three or more in a polyamorous arrangement). Nor can they give robust reasons for making marriage (3) a legally recognized and regulated relationship in the first place (since, after all, we don’t legally recognize or closely regulate most other forms of friendships).

 

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Further information:

• Robert P. George, Sherif Girgis and Ryan T. Anderson: The Argument Against Gay Marriage: And Why it Doesn’t Fail (Public Discourse)
• What is Marriage? (Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy)
• Full text of article