Just Family

Richard Dien Winfield is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Georgia. He is the author of Stylistics: Rethinking the Artforms After Hegel; Freedom and Modernity; and Reason and Justice, all published by SUNY Press; and Systematic Aesthetics; Law In Civil Society; Overcoming Foundations: Studies In Systematic Philosophy; and The Just Economy.

"Winfield locates his treatment of the family within the context of a broader theory of justice, and shows how it fits into this larger framework as a unique part of a greater whole. He considers the entire range of issues concerning the family including marriage, common property, love and sexual relations—both heterosexual and homosexual—children and their upbringing, divorce and death, inheritance, etc. What is most gratifying though is that Winfield provides arguments and not just opinions about how these relations and practices constituting the family ought to be ordered."Winfield's book comes at a time when there is a need for philosophical reflection on questions of family values, children's rights, and same-sex marriage. He has developed interesting, thoughtful, and controversial arguments about all these matters. By providing a unified normative account of the family in all its dimensions, Winfield has accomplished something of intellectual importance." — Robert Berman, Xavier University of Louisiana"Winfield canvasses a wide range of philosophical issues related to civil society, the state, and family relations. He boldly advances a unique perspective that will vivify and challenge future work in these areas." — Raymond Angelo Belliotti, State University of New York at Fredonia

• Preface Introduction The Perplexities of Conceiving the Family as a Normative Institution Obstacles to an Independent Family EthicsThe Incongruence of Family Ethics with Property Right, Morality, and Politics The Specter of Relativism and Nihilism Haunting Family EthicsMulticulturalism and Family Values ,Freedom and Family EthicsChapter I Ethical Community as the Framework for Family Ethics The Rationale for the Renewed Turn to Ethical CommunityThe Fatal Limits of the Communitarian TurnLiberating Ethical Community from its Communitarian Deformation  Property and Morality as Preconditions of Ethical CommunityEthical Community as the Obligatory Complement of Property Right and MoralityHegel and the Rehabilitation of Ethical CommunityThe Place of the Family in the Division of Ethical CommunityChapter II Nature, Psychology, and the Normativity of the Family The Role of Nature in the FamilyThe Contingency of Sexual Differentiation and Bisexual Reproduction in the FamilyThe Contingency of Parenting in the FamilyThe Family and the Human Metabolism withNatureThe Family and EvolutionThe Family and the Birth of CultureTraditional Kinship and Family EthicsThe Natural and Psychological Prerequisites of the FamilyChapter III Friendship Morals versus Family Ethics The Confusion in the Classical Conception of FriendshipThe Lacuna of Friendship in Modern EthicsFamily Relations in Contrast to FriendshipChapter IV Marriage With What Must Family Ethics Begin?Marriage as First Topic of Family EthicsMethodological Quandaries in Conceiving MarriageMarriage and NatureMarriage Versus ContractMarriage and Lovehe Eligibility to MarrySame Sex MarriageIncest and MarriageMonogamy, Polygamy, and BigamyMarital Right and the Extended FamilyPreliminary Formalities to MarriageFormal Versus Informal MarriageThe Grounds of Choice in MarriageMarriage and Family NameChapter V The Conduct of Married Life The Internal Relation of SpousesMarital Property RelationsThe Scope of Mutual Care and Welfare in Marital ConductExternal Marital Rights and DutiesThe Violation and Enforcement of Marital RightChapter VI The Ethics of Parenting Objections to Child Rearing in the FamilyHistorical Presuppositions of Ethical ParentingThe Qualifications for ParentingModes of Assuming Parental DutyThe Parent-Child RelationThe Resolution of Parental Conflict and AbuseParent-Child Relations Afar MaturityMarriage and ParentingSibling Relations and Family EthicsChapter VII The Dissolution of the Family through Divorce, Death, and Disability The Right to DivorceConsent, Fault and the Grounds for DivorceProperty Settlements and Alimony in the Divorce of Spouses without DependentsDivorce Settlements of Spouses with DependentsDeath in the Family and InheritanceThe Domestic Implications of DepersonalizationChapter VIII The Family in Relation to Civil Society and the State The Elementary Normative Structure of Family and Civil SocietyThe Effect of Family Freedom Upon Civil SocietyThe Impact of Civil Society Upon Family RightFamily and StateNotes Works Cited Index