Public Practice, Private Law
An Essay on Love, Marriage, and the State

This book elaborates an appealing model of marriage, rooted in love, for same-sex and different-sex couples, that doesn't involve the state.

Gary Chartier (Author)

9781316506080, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 May 2017

262 pages
23 x 15.3 x 2 cm, 0.5 kg

'This is is humane and well-argued book on behalf of love, marital commitment, and social inclusiveness. It deserves wide attention.' Sheldon Richman, The American Conservative

Marriage is ordinarily a public practice, supported by, as well as supportive of, society. But it need not fall within the purview of the state. Public Practice, Private Law articulates a conception of marriage as a morally rich and important institution that ought to be subject to private rather than legislative or judicial ordering. It elaborates a robust understanding of marriage that captures what both different-sex and same-sex couples might see as valuable about their relationships. It explains why sexual ethics won't yield a normative model of marriage, and why the kind of marital love worth wanting, can. It goes on to show how an understanding of marriage as rooted in demanding commitments can allow for divorce before arguing that the state should cease to sponsor marriages. It concludes by suggesting that both state and non-state institutions should acknowledge the marriages of same-sex couples.

1. Marriage and the dynamics of love
2. Love's obligations
3. An alternative to marital obligation?
4. Gender and the intimate contract
5. The limits of marital obligation
6. Delinking marriage and the state
7. Same-sex marriage, with or without the state.

Subject Areas: Law & society [LAQ], Jurisprudence & philosophy of law [LAB], Law [L], Sociology: family & relationships [JHBK], Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ]