Jonathan Stoltz
\nUniversity of St. Thomas<\/p>\n
Fraternal polyandry\u2014one woman simultaneously being married to two or more brothers\u2014has been a prominent practice within Tibetan agricultural societies for many generations. While the topic of Tibetan polyandry has been widely discussed in the field of anthropology, there are, to my knowledge, no contributions by philosophers on this topic. For this reason alone, my brief analysis of the ethics of Tibetan polyandry will serve to enhance scholars\u2019s understanding of this practice. In this article, I examine the factors that have sustained the practice of polyandry in Tibet, but do so with the further aim of drawing attention to some of the key ethical implications of polyandrous marriage. I argue that the natural law criticisms raised against the practice of polyandry by St. Thomas Aquinas are unsuccessful, but I also argue that the utilitarian motivations for this marriage practice endorsed by agrarian Tibetans are also highly suspect. <\/p>\n
Read article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ISSN 1076-9005 Volume 21, 2014 The Ethics (and Economics) of Tibetan Polyandry Jonathan Stoltz University of St. Thomas Fraternal polyandry\u2014one woman simultaneously being married to two or more brothers\u2014has been a prominent practice within Tibetan agricultural societies for many generations. While the topic of Tibetan polyandry has been widely discussed in the field of anthropology, … Continue reading The Ethics (and Economics) of Tibetan Polyandry<\/span>