国家哪来的权力来规范婚姻?婚姻早于宗教和政治制度，所以为什么有人可以规范它呢?婚姻和友谊有什么不同?国家对婚姻的关注有多深?约翰介绍了伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校的教授理查德·莫尔。婚姻是什么?莫尔认为婚姻是一种生活在一定程度亲密关系中的模式。国家干预婚姻的原则是什么?莫尔认为国家可以支持婚姻的价值。莫尔强调了婚姻关系中信任和透明的重要性。

Are there any good arguments against gay marriage? Mohr thinks that most arguments against it rest on circular definitions. What about religious arguments against it? Mohr thinks that religious and state interests should be sharply separated in marriage. What are legitimate reasons for public policy? Why should the state promote one form of intimacy, say, in marriage, over another, say, in friendship? Mohr points out that there are no longer any gender distinctions in marriage law. Are civil unions good substitutes for marriages?

Mohr thinks that one of the main forms of oppression against homosexuals is denying them access to marriage. Ken asks why the state heaps all the benefits on married couples and gives nothing to single folk. Mohr thinks that the marriage ceremony does not create a relationship but, rather, emphasizes it. John distinguishes between views of marriage purely as relationships, as contracts, and as a symbolic concept. Is there an essence of marriage? Mohr thinks that there is and his view captures a large part of it.

• Amy Standen the Roving Philosophical Reporter(Seek to 04:48): Amy Standen interviews Sarah Barringer Gordon, professor of law and history at the University of Pennsylvania, about the relation between the state, law, and marriage.

• Ian Shoales the Sixty Second Philosopher(Seek to 37:20): Ian Shoales covers various philosophical views on marriage throughout the ages.

• Conundrum(Seek to 49:12): Chris from Massachusetts calls in about his bad memory. He loves to read but forgets what he has read a few months later. He asks whether it makes sense to keep reading instead of giving up and watching television.