Title: What is marriage? - Discussing Marriage
Headings: Is procreation or adult fulfillment the defining good of marriage?
Philosophical Debates:
The Conjugal vs. Revisionist Views of Marriage
Is procreation or adult fulfillment the defining good of marriage?
Introduction
The Conjugal View
The Revisionist View
Conclusion
Questions and Answers
What about infertile or older couples? Are their relationships disqualified from marriage, in the conjugal view?
Isn’t the distinction between these two views of marriage informed by religious tradition?
Why are these two positions mutually exclusive?
Why does this distinction matter in public policy?
Isn’t personal fulfillment an important part of conjugal marriage?
Isn’t love an important part of marriage, from the conjugal view?
References and Further Readings

Content: The change that occurred in their relation strikes at the heart of marriage, from the conjugal view. Marriage is when a man and a woman say to each other, in essence, “Let us extend our emotional union into something more permanent, by starting a family together.” That is, a married couple arranges their lives and joins their families in anticipation of child-birth and child-raising. A pregnancy may be an unexpected interruption to a boyfriend and girlfriend, which fundamentally changes their relationship. However, as much as a child might change the lives of a married couple, she does not change the nature of their relationship. Marriage creates that difference from the get-go (before children are ever concieved), by enwrapping the relationship in norms (expectations) of permanence and fidelity. This is because marriage is oriented towards procreation. It points couples that direction. The Revisionist View
By contrast, in the revisionist view, marriage is an emotional and sexual companionship between partners that is deeper or more intense than a dating relationship. The unifying good of the marriage relationship is mutual personal fulfillment.