A History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vol. 1 of 3Howard, George Elliott
History
A History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vol. 1 of 3
Howard, George Elliott
Families; Marriage -- History
Westermarck next takes up the origin of prohibited degrees; and
after a critical examination of the various theories to explain
it, he comes to the conclusion that in no case observed is the
prohibition of incest founded on conscious experience of its
injurious effects. It has not come into existence as the result of
observation or calculation or through education on the part of the
savage. Law and custom might thus arise; and these may "prevent
passion from passing into action, they cannot wholly destroy its
inward power." The home is kept pure "neither by laws, nor by
customs, nor by education, but by an _instinct_ which under normal
circumstances makes sexual love between the nearest kin a psychical
impossibility." But this instinct is not an "_innate_ aversion to
marriage with _near relations_." It is rather an "innate aversion to
sexual intercourse between persons living very closely together from
early youth;" and "as such persons are in most cases related, this
feeling displays itself chiefly as a horror of intercourse between
near kin." It is not "by the degrees of consanguinity, but by the
close living together that prohibitory laws against intermarriage
are determined."[384]
[384] _Ibid._, 318, 320, 321. WAKE, _Marriage and
Kinship_, 55, 56, expresses a similar view.
This theory, it will be noticed, coincides with that of Starcke in
selecting local contiguity or the intimate association of family
life as the fundamental fact. It differs, however, in several
important particulars. The economic or legal motives are not
emphasized; and Westermarck's explanation is broader than Starcke's,
for he holds that the aversion extends to sexual connections outside
of regular marriage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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