Abstract
PROF. WESTERMARCK has applied his world- wide knowledge of the institution of marriage and his life-long experience in analysing its various forms and manifestations to the practical question of the present position and the future of marriage in modern Western civilization—a question indeed which has been much discussed of late years, but at present, momentarily perhaps, seems less insistent. He examines the question here from all sides. Its defects, real or alleged, and the suggested remedies are taken seriatim and discussed with a broad-minded tolerance befitting the impartial attitude of the man of science and the philosopher. This is a point which it is not otiose to make, as Prof. Westermarck has been accused by some of his critics of a bias which makes the monogamous marriage the touchstone of his conclusions as the ultimate and highest development of the institution—in other words, that his arguments have an ethical rather than a scientific background.
The Future of Marriage in Western Civilisation
By Dr. Edward Westermarck. Pp. xiv + 281. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1936.) 12s. 6d. net.
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The Future of Marriage in Western Civilisation. Nature 138, 186 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138186a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138186a0