PSYCHOLOGY AND THE GOOD MARRIAGE - SOCIAL-THEORY AS PRACTICE

The traditional social science separation of the objective and subject ive, of fact and value, is increasingly untenable. Social scientists h ave concerned themselves with crucial mailers that cannot be neatly pa rtitioned into neutral facts and personal investments The deep concern s among scientists, therapists and the public about the fragility of m arriage is one prominent example. There is a remarkable consensus amon g professionals and the public that the key to marital stability is ma intaining marital satisfaction, which is dependent on good communicati on. Therefore, researchers study communication and therapists reach co uples communication skills as a means to enhance marriage. Although th ese interventions are presented as simple behavioral skills to be lear ned and practiced, the author argues that these skills cannot be succe ssfully carried out in the absence of crucial character virtues such a s self-restraint, courage, and friendship. Unmasking the reduction of the good in marriage to technical considerations shows that virtue is an unacknowledged but central presupposition of these professionals' e fforts The author concludes by suggesting some promising directions fo r a richer account of marriage that will allow researchers to address the incoherent and self-defeating understandings and practices that co nstitute contemporary marriage.