Author Description

S. Matthew Liao Argues Here That Children Have A Right To Be Loved. To Do So He Investigates Questions Such As Whether Children Are Rightholders; What Grounds A Child's Right To Beloved; Whether Love Is An Appropriate Object Of A Right; And Other Philosophical And Practical Issues. His Proposal Is That All Human Beings Have Rights To The Fundamental Conditions For Pursuing A Good Life; Therefore, As Human Beings, Children Have Human Rights To The Fundamental Conditions For Pursuing A Good Life. Since Being Loved Is One Of Those Fundamental Conditions, Children Thus Have A Right To Be Loved. Liao Shows That This Claim Need Not Be Merely Empty Rhetoric, And That The Arguments For This Right Can Hang Together As A Coherent Whole. This Is The First Book To Make A Sustained Philosophical Case For The Right Of Children To Be Loved. It Makes A Unique Contribution To The Fast-growing Literature On Family Ethics, In Particular, On Children's Rights And Parental Rights And Responsibilities, And To The Emerging Field Of The Philosophy Of Human Rights.