ABSTRACT
Not all universais or near-universais are found by looking at the logic of the need-situation. There is at least one moral imperative whose ubiquity has long impressed observers directly; indeed, because of its many puzzling features and the wealth of ink poured out in analysis, one might almost better say, obsessed them. This is the prohibition against incest. Some of the confusion that has arisen over the study of incest regulations has come from the failure to differentiate different levels. Interestingly enough, the distinctions are quite clear in the differentiated attitudes toward incest violations which the authors find among many people. It has been suggested in the anthropological literature that the explanation of the ubiquitous incest tabu lies in the social advantage of exogamy. It is true that many people formulate their arguments against incestuous marriages in terms of such consequences as the birth of deformed children.
