Taking Responsibility for Children

Samantha Brennan, Robert Noggle, Samantha Brennan, Robert Noggle

• Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
• Year: 2007
• eBook ISBN: 9781554580736
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Ethics & Moral Philosophy

What do we as a society, and as parents in particular, owe to our children? Each chapter in Taking Responsibility for Children offers part of an answer to that question. Although they vary in the approaches they take and the conclusions they draw, each contributor explores some aspect of the moral obligations owed to children by their caregivers. Some focus primarily on the responsibilities of parents, while others focus on the responsibilities of society and government.

The essays reflect a mix of concern with the practical and the philosophical aspects of taking responsibility for children, addressing such topics as parental obligations, the rights and entitlements of children, the responsibility of the state, the role and nature of public education in a liberal society, the best ways to ensure adequate child protection, the licensing of parents, children's religious education, and children's health. Taking Responsibility for Children will be of interest to philosophers, advocates for children's interests, and those interested in public policy, especially as it relates to children and families.

Table of contents

• CONTENTS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• INTRODUCTION: Taking Responsibility for Children
• ONE: Raising Children: Who Is Responsible for What?
• TWO: Parental Responsibility
• THREE: Children, Caregivers, Friends
• FOUR: Parent Licensing and the Protection of Children
• FIVE: Responsibility and Children's Rights: The Case for Restricting Parental Smoking
• SIX: Political Liberalism and Moral Education: Reflections on Mozert v. Hawkins
• SEVEN: Education in a Liberal Society: Implications of Ross
• EIGHT: Could There Be a Right Not to Be Born an Octuplet?
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
• INDEX