Articles de cette rubrique

• XVI.1 On domestic servitude

  6 septembre 2018, par Stewart

  Slaves are not so much in the family as they are established for the family. Therefore I shall distinguish between their servitude and that of women in some countries, which I shall call domestic servitude proper.

• XVI.2 That in southern countries there is a natural inequality between the two sexes

  6 septembre 2018, par Stewart

  Women in warm climates are nubile at eight, nine or ten years of age : thus childhood and marriage almost always go together. They are old at twenty : reason and beauty therefore never cohabit in them. When beauty wants domination, reason sees that it is denied ; when reason could obtain it, (…)

• XVI.3 That plurality of wives depends greatly on their maintenance

  6 septembre 2018, par Stewart

  Although in countries where polygamy is once established, the number of wives is largely dependent on the husband’s wealth, nevertheless one cannot say that it is because of wealth that polygamy becomes established in a state : poverty can have the same effect, as I shall affirm when I discuss (…)

• XVI.4 That the law of polygamy is a matter of calculation

  6 septembre 2018, par Stewart

  According to the calculations being made in various places in Europe, more boys are born there than girls ; contrariwise, the relations of Asia tell us that many more girls are born there than boys. The law of a single wife in Europe and the one which that allows several in Asia therefore have a (…)

• XVI.5 The reason for a law of Malabar

  6 septembre 2018, par Stewart

  On the Malabar coast, in the caste of Nairs, men can have but one wife, and a woman on the contrary can have multiple husbands. I think we can discover the origin of this custom. The Nairs are the caste of nobles, who are the soldiers of all these nations. In Europe, soldiers are prevented from (…)

• XVI.6 On polygamy in itself

  6 septembre 2018, par Stewart

  To consider polygamy in general, independently of the circumstances which can make it somewhat acceptable, it is not useful to the human race, nor to either of the two sexes, to the one that abuses nor to the one that is abused. Neither is it useful to children, and one of its great drawbacks is (…)

• XVI.7 On equality of treatment in the case of multiple wives

  6 septembre 2018, par Stewart

  From the law on plurality of wives follows the law on equality of treatment. Mohammed, who allows for four, would have everything equal among them : food, clothing, conjugal duty. This law is also established in the Maldives, where a man may marry three wives. [1]
  The law of Moses even (…)

• XVI.8 On the separation of women from men

  6 septembre 2018, par Stewart

  It is a consequence of polygamy that in sensual and wealthy nations a man should have a great many wives. Their separation from men and their enclosure follow naturally from this large number. Domestic order so requires ; an insolvent debtor seeks to shelter himself from the pursuits of his (…)

• XVI.9 Connection of domestic government with the political

  6 septembre 2018, par Stewart

  In a republic, the station of citizens is limited, equal, mild, and moderate : everything is imbued with public freedom. Ascendency over women could not be so well exercised there ; and when the climate has called for such ascendency, government by one man alone has been the most appropriate. (…)

• XVI.10 The principle of morality in the Orient

  6 septembre 2018, par Stewart

  In the case of multiplicity of wives, the more the family ceases to be an entity, the more the laws must connect those detached parts to a center ; and the more various interests are, the better it is for the laws to bring them back to a common interest.
  This is accomplished principally by (…)