Abstract
THE use of scientific method and the disuse of appeals to authority, whether ecclesiastical or other, are the leading characteristics of this book. The author first states the problem, which is the explanation, not the justification, of the present divorce situation. He then enters upon a historical and descriptive account of marriage and divorce from the earliest to modern times, with special reference to America. Then, after considering some explanations of the divorce ‘trend’ which he regards as inadequate, he proceeds to develop his own lines of explanation. We think he begins badly by laying it down as an axiom that “divorce is an effect, not a cause”, since the disintegration of the marriage has taken place before the divorce. But easy divorce is surely one cause of light views of marriage, and therefore of easy virtue. Yet there is so much excellent material in the book that it must be accounted a serious contribution. The author's wide knowledge of the literature of the subject makes him extremely apt in quotation.
Divorce: a Social Interpretation.
Prof.
J. P.
Lichtenberger
By. (Whittelsey House Publication.) Pp. xii + 472. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.; London: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., Ltd., 1931.) 21s. net.
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Divorce: a Social Interpretation . Nature 130, 493 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130493c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/130493c0