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Issues concerning the upbringing of children are among the most contested in modern political debate. How should childrearing rights and resources be distributed between families? To what extent are parents morally permitted to shape the beliefs and desires of their children? At what age should children acquire adult rights, such as the right to vote? Justice and Legitimacy in Upbringing sets out a liberal conception of political morality that supports a set of answers to these questions which many liberals have been reluctant to accept. The central argument is that the ideals of justice and individual autonomy place significant constraints on both governments and parents. Clayton insists that while their interests should count directly in allocating childrearing rights, parents should exercise their rights in accordance with these liberal ideals. He argues that we owe our children a childhood that develops their sense of justice, but in which further attempts to enrol them into particular religious practices, for instance, are illegitimate. Justice and Legitimacy in Upbringing is a work of applied political philosophy that will be of interest to students of political theory, the philosophy of education, and social and public policy.
This book investigates the moral and political constraints that justice and individual autonomy place on the upbringing of children. Matthew Clayton, a scholar of political theory, constructs a liberal framework to address the tension between parental rights and the child's future independence. He argues that while parents have a legitimate interest in raising their children, this authority is bounded by the requirement to foster a child's sense of justice without imposing specific comprehensive doctrines, such as religious practices, upon them.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Experts in political philosophy and education recognize this work as a rigorous contribution to the debate on parental authority and child autonomy. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which is intended for students and scholars of political theory and public policy.
Page Count:
224
Publication Date:
2006-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0191533386
ISBN-13:
9780191533389
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