Examining and Criticizing the Argument that Marriage is Immoral: Love as the Sustainer of Marriage

Marriage is a lasting and dynamic institution that has played a significant and undeniable role in the development and evolution of human societies. History reveals a wide variety of patterns of marriage in different eras. Historical debates and developments in marriage pave the way for differences in the approaches of moral philosophers to the issue of marriage. In modern times, some philosophers have presented various arguments against the morality of marriage. Dan Moller considers marriage as conditional on love and believes that couples who promise to love each other promise something beyond human will. After explaining the different ways in which a marriage contract is made, he argues that none of the marriage contracts are permanent and that most of them fail and end in divorce, and that marriage is therefore immoral and wrong. In this paper, Moller’ argument is critically reviewed by rational analysis. There are several drawbacks to Moller’s argument, including; voluntary nature of the expression of emotions, ignoring the value of happy days of married people, the non-necessity of love for marriage in different periods and the nativity of the argument. This article also provides a definition of love based on moral virtues. Accordingly, love is in fact love of excellences and virtues, and it disappears when the loved one loses his excellences and virtues. As a result, the continuation of love depends on the couples strengthening their virtues and perfections. So marriage is conditioned on the growth of moral virtues and mutual respect of couples.