家族と死後の関心との関係
しかし,もしも,このようなことが起これば,男性の心理と行動は,深刻な変化をこうむるにちがいない。それは,大部分の人々が想像するよりもはるかに深刻な変化である,と私は信じている。男性に及ぼす影響が良いか悪いか,私は(ここでは)あえて言おうとは思わない。そうなれば,重要さの点で唯一性愛に劣らない感情が,男性の生活から奪われることになるであろう。性愛そのものも,いよいよ瑣末なもの(とるにたらないもの)になるだろう。いかなるものであれ,自分の死後のことに関心を持つことが,ますます困難になるであろう。 男性は,活動的でなくなり,おそらく,仕事から早く引退するだろう。(男性の)歴史への関心も,歴史的伝統の連続という意識も,減ってしまうだろう。 同時に,文明人が持ちやすい,この上もなく荒々しく野蛮な情熱,即ち,(白人の場合は)有色人種から妻子を守ろうとする際に感じる憤怒も,取り除かれるだろう。思うに,男性は好戦的でなくなり,また,たぶん欲張りでもなくなるであろう。良い影響と悪い影響のバランスをとることはとてもできないが,影響が甚大かつ広範にわたることは,明白である。従って,家父長制家族は,いつまで重要さを失わないでいるかは疑問であるにせよ,いまだ重要である。 |
Chapter XIII: Family at present day, n.15Perhaps the greatest importance of the family, in these days of contraceptives, is that it preserves the habit of having children. If a man were going to have no property in his child, and no opportunity of affectionate relations with it, he would see little point in begetting it. It would, of course, with a slight change in our economic institutions, be possible to have families consisting of mothers only, but it is not such families that I am considering at the present time, since they afford no motives for sexual virtue, and it is the family as a reason for stable marriage that concerns us in the present work. It may be - and indeed I think it far from improbable- that the father will be completely eliminated before long, except among the rich (supposing the rich to be not abolished by Socialism). In that case, women will share their children with the State, not with an individual father. They will have such number of children as they desire, and the fathers will have no responsibility. Indeed, if the mothers are at all of a promiscuous disposition, fatherhood may be impossible to determine. But if this comes about, it will make a profound change in the psychology and activities of men, far more profound, I believe, than most people would suppose. Whether the effect upon men would be good or bad, I do not venture to say. It would eliminate from their lives the only emotion equal in importance to sex love. It would make sex love itself more trivial. It would make it far more difficult to take an interest in anything after one's own death. It would make men less active and probably cause them to retire earlier from work. It would diminish their interest in history and their sense of the continuity of historical tradition. At the same time it would eliminate the most fierce and savage passion to which civilized men are liable, namely the fury which is felt in defending wives and children from attacks by coloured populations. I think it would make men less prone to war, and probably less acquisitive. To strike a balance between good and bad effects is scarcely possible, but it is evident that the effects would be profound and far-reaching. The patriarchal family, therefore, is still important, although it is doubtful how long it will remain so. |