Marriage and Civilization
How Monogamy Made Us Human
Published on 3. February 2014
256 pages
978-1-62157-219-0 (ISBN)
Description
In his stunning new book, Marriage and Civilization, author William Tucker looks at the evidence from biology, evolution, anthropology, history, and culture to come to a remarkable conclusion: it was the monogamous pairing of male and female - unusual among mammals - that led to human evolution. Moreover, it is monogamous marriage that has shaped Western Civilization, giving us our sense of justice, undergirded Western democracy, and is the greatest institution we have for perpetuating human freedom and happiness.
Yet marriage is now under threat - and perhaps not in ways that people suspect. We could actually see the de facto abolition of marriage, with the state taking many of the responsibilities formerly assumed by the nuclear family.
Among Tucker's many eye-opening observations:
Marriage and Civilization might be the most important, provocative, and talked-about book of the year.
Yet marriage is now under threat - and perhaps not in ways that people suspect. We could actually see the de facto abolition of marriage, with the state taking many of the responsibilities formerly assumed by the nuclear family.
Among Tucker's many eye-opening observations:
- How primitive polygamy was a retrogression from the original monogamous structure of the human family
- Why monogamy was essential to the development of ancient Greek democracy
- Why it was the Catholic Church, not the Bible or Christianity in general, that was the great defender of monogamous marriage in Western Civilization
- Why polygamous societies - from primitive farming communities, to the Mongols, to the Muslim world, to the early Mormons - are internally violent and have bloody borders
- Why same-sex marriage - utterly irrelevant, in evolutionary terms - is a distraction from the real marriage debate we should be having
- The prospects for monogamous marriage - and the dangers if it collapses
Marriage and Civilization might be the most important, provocative, and talked-about book of the year.
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Book
02/2014
Regnery Publishing Inc
€26.50
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Person
William Tucker
Content
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- INTRODUCTION: Monogamy and its Discontents
- PART I: THE SEARCH FOR ORIGINS
- CHAPTER 1: Where Did the Family Come From?
- CHAPTER 2: The Primate Inheritance
- CHAPTER 3: Chimp Sexual Communism
- CHAPTER 4: The Alpha Couple and the Primal Horde
- PART II: THE EMERGENCE OF HUMANITY
- CHAPTER 5: Why We Didn't Remain Chimpanzees
- CHAPTER 6: Hunter-Gatherer Monogamy
- CHAPTER 7: The End of Hunter-Gatherer Monogamy
- CHAPTER 8: Herding and Horticulture: The Two Roads to Polygamy
- PART III: THE ANCIENT WORLD
- CHAPTER 9: Marriage at the Dawn of Civilization
- CHAPTER 10: Egyptian and Hebrew Beginnings
- CHAPTER 11: The Iliad and The Odyssey
- CHAPTER 12: Greece and the Birth of Monogamous Society
- CHAPTER 13: The Rape of Lucretia and the Founding of Rome
- CHAPTER 14: Christianity, Droit du Seigneur, and the Virtuous Woman
- CHAPTER 15: The French Revolution and the End of Aristocracy
- CHAPTER 16: The Victorian Era and the Triumph of Marriage
- CHAPTER 17: Mormonism: A Nineteenth Century Dissent from Monogamy
- PART IV: THE NON-WESTERN WORLD
- CHAPTER 18: Nomadic Warriors and Islam
- CHAPTER 19: Marriage in India
- CHAPTER 20: Marriage in China
- PART V: MODERN QUESTIONS
- CHAPTER 21: The Black Family and the Emergence of Single Motherhood
- CHAPTER 22: What Is Happening to the Family Today?
- CHAPTER 23: What Do Women Want?
- CHAPTER 24: What Marriage Means for Civilization
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- INDEX
