BBC - Radio 4 Woman's Hour -Has Love Conquered Marriage? For the first time ever, married-couple households are in the minority both in the UK and the US, outnumbered by single-person households and cohabiting couples. Whilst many blame the stresses of modern life and the failure of couples to invest enough time in their relationships, could it actually be the reverse? Woman’s Hour discusses the history of marriage with Professor Stephanie Coontz who argues in her book , “How Love Conquered Marriageâ€? that couples are straining marital bliss by relying far too heavily on each other for emotional fulfilment. Should we learn a lesson from the Victorians by getting closer to our friends? Andrew Samuels, Professor of Psychology at Essex University joins the discussion.

This is a discussion that leads to some very serious questions. Not so much about marriage which it deals with fairly accurately and Coontz has the requisite credentials but about the effect of these discussions on society in general and the form of marriage in particular. All participants in the discussion were using phrases such as "we should" or "we must not forget" that imply an assumed wider impact. But what form should these suggested actions take in individuals and what would they look like in a group? Here we have a very interesting disparity between grammar and the imagery it evokes. Most of these sentences are plural - we should, we must,...- but the associated image is always that of one individual making certain choices.

The other question that also transcend the issues of marriage is how should we reconcile our knowledge of the workings of a social institution (marriage, education, etc.) with our need for ethical action (we need to choose what school to go to and/or we need to decide what role to play in a marriage). The participants were constantly switching between the two ways of conceptualization and often actively addressing the disparity. In a sense, academic knowledge is a part of the public discussion while standing apart from it, at the same time.

To show that this is not a purely abstract concern, I would note that the TV series Bones is often concerned with these issues although in a slightly naive way.

The same problem, however, exists within the academic world, as well. Philosophy often needs to negotiate its place in the world of practical concerns of more specialized disiplines.