Problems of Conduct: An Introductory Survey of EthicsDrake, Durant
Philosophy
Problems of Conduct: An Introductory Survey of Ethics
Drake, Durant
Ethics
(8) There are, besides, certain practical consequences of which
experience warns. Free love would mean that the pretty and well-
developed girls, the handsomer and physically stronger men, would be
besieged with solicitations and almost inevitably debauched by excess
of temptation, while the less attractive would starve for love. It would
mean jealousies, deserted lovers, and broken hearts. Free love
is especially hard on a woman; she readily becomes attached,
and craves loyalty. Inconstancy, though it is so natural to man as
often to need the pressure of law and convention for its repression,
is not only the worst enemy of his own happiness, but the inevitable
source of friction and clash between men and between women. If
freedom to break the troth that love instinctively plights is allowed,
the chances are numerous that one or the other will some day
discover another "affinity" that, at least for the time, seems closer
and better suited to him; unless a stern loyalty prevents, one or two
or three hearts may be broken. Our monogamous code-whose
iological value is clearly indicated by its adoption by most of the
higher animals (not counting the domesticated animals, whose
morals have been hopelessly ruined)-stands among the wisest
of our ideals.
What safeguards against unchastity are necessary?
Overwhelming as is the argument for monogamy, it runs counter to such
violent impulses that it needs every prop and sanction that can be
given it. It must shelter itself under the law, keep on its side the
conscience of men, and be hallowed by alliance with religion. All this
is partially attained by the social-religious institution of marriage.
The wedding ceremony itself, adding as it does dignity and symbolism,
the memory of a beautiful occasion, and the witness of friends to the
plighting of mutual vows, is of appreciable value. We must now consider
the practical question how, in the face of almost inevitable
temptation, the young man and woman may keep chaste during the years
prior to marriage. If pre-marital chastity is maintained, there is
comparatively little danger of infidelity when chosen love and loyalty
to vows come to reinforce the earlier motives.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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