Hegel on Marriage: The Importance of the Wedding Ceremony

• Main Author: Bisig, Joshua T.
• Format: Others
• Published: ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University 2015
• Subjects: Hegel; Kant; Marriage; Wedding ceremony; Love; Contract
• Online Access: http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/philosophy_theses/178; http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1182&context=philosophy_theses

In the Philosophy of Right, Hegel insists that a marriage is only established after a wedding ceremony has taken place but he provides no satisfactory justification for thinking this. In this paper, I attempt to provide some justifications for him. I advocate an interpretation of Hegel that (1) understands the declaration of consent uttered in the wedding ceremony to be a performative act whose force is what transforms a relationship into a marriage and that (2) understands Hegel’s general concept of personality to inform his requirement that the agreement to marry be declared publicly.