A City Without Duty, Fault or Shame
RECONCEIVING THE FAMILY: CRITICAL REFLECTIONS ON THE AMERICAN LAW INSTITUTE'S PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW OF FAMILY DISSOLUTION, Robin Fretwell Wilson, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2006
30 Pages Posted: 2 Jun 2005
Abstract
The American Law Institute's 'Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution' seek in important respects to avoid taking account of fault. This extends a trend of the past several decades towards the development of the no-fault marriage, the no-fault family, and the no-fault legal system. There have been tendencies towards the emergence of a no-fault public culture, a no-fault system of social morality, and even perhaps towards a normative psychology which encourages the individual to maintain an attitude of continuous self-approbation. This chapter deplores these tendencies, presenting the thesis that the recognition of fault - its ascription to others and its acknowledgment in oneself - is in one way and another actually a good thing, or at least that it is involved in an intimate and inextricable way with the remedial side of certain basic personal and social goods, and has a special place in regards to marriage and the family.
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