The concept of marriage and the Advisory Opinion. A critic

Abstract

The article explores the criticisms that have been made about the concept of marriage contained in Advisory Opinion 24/17. From a conservative position it is indicated that the marriage is limited to people of different sex. The premise that supports the “heterosexual” pro-marriage establishes the union between man and woman, for that reason only and exclusively the marriage bond could be constituted with people of different sex. The central thesis about marriage focuses on the fact that, from its origins, its concept or nature, it has been exclusive to heterosexual people. Also, this notion would be based on article 67 of the Ecuadorian Constitution. While from a more progressive position it is rejected that the concept is so reduced. Meanwhile, the egalitarian pro-marriage movement supports its reasoning on the principle of equality, but specifically, in the prohibition of discrimination found in the second clause of the same article 11 numeral 2. Therefore, I analyze and criticize the first and second position, from an interpretative and moral perspective, in order to obtain a good argumentation, from a meticulous conceptual analysis. The interpretative thesis the rule of article 67 could be seen in four possible “interpretations” - plausible rules of marriage. On the other hand, under the moral thesis I will use the naive and sophisticated moral argument
with the aim of realizing a redefinition of moral arguments regarding marriage.