Feminist Interpretation of Hegelian Notion of Marriage

Abstract

Hegel thinks of marriage not as an institution based on contract. For him although marriage may begin at the level of a contract, but eventually this gets replaced by the notion of a 'union'. Hegel sees marriage as a union rather than as a contract. Since the individual as different atoms is at the very heart of the contract notion, therefore it is impossible for Hegel to endorse such a notion as the basis for the institution of marriage where he sees the presence of a genuine ethical bind, where the particularities of the atomistic individual is transcended. While talking about the feminist criticisms against Hegelian notion of marriage, we should keep in mind that he was not addressing the question of womens subjugation, but nevertheless we must also simultaneously acknowledge the reality that Hegel's first moment of ethical life is the family and within it the notion of marriage as a union is of prime importance.