For Better For Worse: Should I Get Married? by Neel Burton

For Better For Worse examines the institution of marriage in history and contemporary culture, along with kin concepts such as romantic love, sexuality, and family. Drawing upon several fields of inquiry, it sets out as neither pro- nor anti-marriage, but seeks instead to investigate an institution that has long been at the centre of society, and that we tend to take for granted despite its defining impact on almost all aspects of our lives. Whether or not to tie, untie, or retie the knot is a question that we each have to answer for ourselves, and this book aims no higher than to frame and inform our deliberation._x000D_ _x000D_ If you marry, you will regret it;_x000D_ If you do not marry, you will also regret it..._x000D_ This is the sum and substance of all philosophy._x000D_ — Søren Kierkegaard_x000D_ _x000D_ About the author:_x000D_ _x000D_ Dr Neel Burton is a psychiatrist, philosopher, writer, and wine-lover who lives and teaches in Oxford, England. He is a Fellow of Green-Templeton College, Oxford, and the recipient of the Society of Authors' Richard Asher Prize, the British Medical Association's Young Authors' Award, the Medical Journalists' Association Open Book Award, and a Best in the World Gourmand Award._x000D_ _x000D_ Contents:_x000D_ _x000D_ 1. Monogamy_x000D_ 2. Polygamy_x000D_ 3. Gender fluidity in the gods_x000D_ 4. Gender variation and same-sex relations in precolonial peoples_x000D_ 5. Marriage in Ancient Egypt_x000D_ 6. Three tales of same-sex love in Ancient Egypt_x000D_ 7. The history and psychology of the orgy_x000D_ 8. Marriage in the Bible_x000D_ 9. Love in the Bible_x000D_ 10. Same-sex relations in the Bible_x000D_ 11. An interpretation of Adam and Eve_x000D_ 12. Sex, sexuality, and duplicity in Ancient Rome_x000D_ 13. How love became the new religion_x000D_ 14. The psychology of romantic love_x000D_ 15. The history of kissing_x000D_ 16. Who was Valentine?_x000D_ 17. The 7 types of love_x000D_ 18. Polyamory: a new way of loving?_x000D_ 19. The philosophy of lust_x000D_ 20. The magic of masturbation_x000D_ 21. Touch hunger_x000D_ 22. The pain of loneliness/the joy of solitude_x000D_ 23. The ascetic alternative_x000D_ 24. Are married people healthier?_x000D_ 25. The deep psychology of the bachelor party_x000D_ 26. Should we have a big wedding?_x000D_ 27. The challenges of intimacy_x000D_ 28. The philosophy of trust_x000D_ 29. The philosophy of forgiveness_x000D_ 30. The rise and demise of divorce_x000D_ 31. The future of the family_x000D_ 32. Should we have children?_x000D_ 33. The gay revolution_x000D_ 34. A feminist critique of marriage