What attracts me to philosophy and critical theory is that it answers questions. The answer may not be familiar, and indeed the answer may come with another question, but if philosophy can’t engage the questions that we debate, then it is not worth much. We need philosophy more than ever now. The kinds of ethical questions we must tackle at the beginning of the 21st century demand forms of direct and creative thinking. In fact, we find our conventional truths so often undermined today that the need for theoretical thinking is greater now than it has ever been.
All this is in the way of introduction to one of the more controversial issues the United States faces: the legalization of gay marriage. I don’t offer an answer to the question of whether it should be legalized or not (for me the question is not that interesting: of course it should. Full stop). The more interesting question is the source of the opposition to gay marriage. Why care? Naturally, there is a “moral” answer to this question. Opposition to gay marriage is rooted in intolerance, ignorance, hatred, etc. True enough, as far as it goes, but, like most moral statements, it doesn’t offer much in the way of understanding. We dismiss those who oppose gay marriage without exploring the fertile question of why it is such an issue in the first place. (more…)