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Modern Marriage And Judgmental Liberalism: A Reply To George, Girgis, And Anderson, Matthew L. Clemente

Matthew L. Clemente

State by state, cantankerous debates about same-sex marriage continue to capture headlines. The outcome of these debates has not only changed the political landscape in United States but has also impacted public policy and legal theory. However, the same-sex marriage debate raises a more fundamental philosophical question—why is the state involved in marriage in the first place? I argue that the best answer to this question is that marriage plays a vital role in modern Western democracies. The right of marriage stems from its social function of habituating the character traits that are essential to effective democratic citizenship.

The standard …