FOREWORD
From several persons who have read the manuscript of this essay, and from a larger number who have read the first part, I have received criticisms which are reducible to two main points: First, that I make the procreation of children the predominant ideal in marriage, minimizing companionship and other “spiritual” factors. Second, that although I call attention to various unsatisfactory conditions of sex relations, I have no practical reform program to propose.
Both of these points I admit without apology, and to both of them I wish to direct the readers’ attention. I agree thoroughly with the position of the Church (as I understand that position), in declaring that the highest “spiritual” values of marriage result when it is most perfectly adapted to its primary end. As a psychologist, I have the psychologist’s prejudice, that ideals, intellectual analysis, and education are the fundamental forces of progress, and that laws, conventions, and customs serve to consolidate and make secure the gains achieved through these forces.
The first part of this essay consists, with some additions, of an address delivered in April, 1917,
