Table of Contents

Introduction: Marriage and Philosophy
Part One. De-Moralizing Marriage
1. The Marriage Promise: Is Divorce Promise-Breaking?
2. How to Commit Marriage: A Conceptual Guide
3. Marriage, Sex, and Morals
4. Special Treatment for Lovers: Marriage, Care, and Amatonormativity

Part Two: Democratizing Marriage
5. Critiques of Marriage: An Essentially Unjust Institution?
6. Defining Marriage: Political Liberalism and the Same-Sex Marriage Debates
7. Minimizing Marriage: What Political Liberalism Implies for Marriage Law
8. Challenges for Minimal Marriage: Poverty, Property, Polygyny

About the Author

Elizabeth Brake was educated at The Universities of Oxford (B.A.) and St. Andrews (M. Litt., PhD). Since 2000 she has taught in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Calgary, Canada; in 2011-2012 is a Visiting Associate Professor at Arizona State University. She has written on the construction of parental obligations, fathers' rights and responsibilities, and political liberalism, in addition to work on marriage.

Reviews

"Brake's clearly argued thesis is a powerful alternative to more standard feminist views that would eliminate marriage as an institution. The author makes a very important contribution to all aspects of the current marriage debates. Highly recommended."--CHOICE
"Brake carefully examines a range of views on marriage, from conservative moralists to feminist and queer theorists, and then offers a novel and compelling proposal for legal and institutional reform. For scholars, students, and anyone interested in the current political struggle to define marriage, this book builds the case for change from its thorough critique of the moral and political foundations of marriage."--Laurie Shrage, Florida International
University in Miami