Abstract
This paper develops a Kantian account of the moral assessment of institutions. The problem I address is this: while a deontological theory may find that some legal institutions are required by justice, it is not obvious how such a theory can assess institutions not strictly required (or prohibited) by justice. As a starting-point, I consider intuitions that in some cases it is desirable to attribute non-consequentialist moral value to institutions not required by justice. I will argue that neither consequentialist nor virtue-ethical accounts account for these intuitions, suggesting that a distinctive deontological account is needed. The account I give is drawn from Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals; I distinguish it from Kantian views of institutions developed by Barbara Herman and Onora O’Neill. Throughout, I use marriage as an example.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Due to space constraints, I do not discuss rule-utilitarianism here.
I withhold objections here to the perfectionist view of political institutions as justifiable by their promotion of virtues.
I find many problems here. Does marriage really promote ‘erotic love’? And presumably the importance of erotic love varies: Don Juan or Savonarola might flourish without it.
I criticize this view in Brake 2005.
O’Neill (1989, 123) suggests using “the results of social inquiry” to determine maxims, but I think this faces the same objections.
A reviewer for the British Society for Ethical Theory conference suggested these responses.
Similar problems arise for Kant (1797–1798 567/6:447) who held that “[t]he depths of the human heart are unfathomable.”
References
Bloom A (1987) The closing of the American mind. Penguin, New York
Brake E (2005) Justice and virtue in Kant’s account of marriage. Kantian Rev 9:58–94
Card C (1996) Against marriage and motherhood. Hypatia 11(3):1–23
Goldman A (1976) The entitlement theory of distributive justice. J Philos 73(21):823–835
Hegel GWF (1821) Elements of the philosophy of right. In: Wood A (ed) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1999, translated by HB Nisbet)
Herman B (1993) Could it be worth thinking about Kant on sex and marriage? In: Antony L, Witt C (eds) A mind of one’s own: feminist essays on reason and objectivity. Westview, Boulder, CO, pp 49–67
Kant I (ca. 1762–1794) Lectures on ethics. In: Heath P, Schneewind JB (ed) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1997, Translated by P Heath)
Kant I (1797) Metaphysical elements of justice, 2nd edn. Hackett, Indianapolis (1999, Translated by J Ladd)
Kant I (1797–1798) Metaphysics of morals. In: Gregor M (ed and translator) Practical philosophy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 353–603, 1999
Kant I (1798) Anthropology from a pragmatic point of view. In: Louden RB (ed and translated). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006
Kant I (1900-) Kants Gesammelte Schriften. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin
Kingston A (2004) The meaning of wife. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York
Kipnis L (2003) Against love. Pantheon, New York
MacIntyre A (1994) After virtue, 2nd edn. Duckworth, London
Okin SM (1989) Justice, gender, and the family. Basic, New York
O’Neill O (1985) Between consenting adults. Philos Public Aff 14(3):252–277 (Reprinted in O’Neill (1989), pp 105–125)
O’Neill O (1989) Constructions of reason: explorations of Kant’s practical philosophy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
O’Neill O (2000) Bounds of justice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Rawls J (1999) A theory of justice, revised edition. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Scruton R (1986) Sexual desire. Free Press, London
Shanley ML (2004) Just marriage. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Wedgwood R (1999) The fundamental argument for same-sex marriage. J Polit Philos 7(3):225–242
Williams H (1977) Kant’s concept of property. Philos Q 27(106):32–40
Acknowledgements
Thanks to audiences at the British Society for Ethical Theory, the Canadian Philosophical Association, and Carleton University, the University of Calgary Ethics Group, Ali Kazmi, Ann Levey, David Sobel, and an anonymous BSET reviewer for helpful comments, and to the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for funding.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brake, E. Marriage, Morality, and Institutional Value. Ethic Theory Moral Prac 10, 243–254 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-007-9066-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-007-9066-6