Description
Book SynopsisIn Licensing Parents, Michael McFall argues that political structures, economics, education, racism, and sexism are secondary in importance to the inequality caused by families, and that the family plays the primary role in a child''s acquisition of a sense of justice. He demonstrates that examination of the family is necessary in political philosophy and that informal structures (families) and considerations (character formation) must be taken seriously. McFall advocates a threshold that should be accepted by all political philosophers: children should not be severely abused or neglected because child maltreatment often causes deep and irreparable individual and societal harm. The implications of this threshold are revolutionary, but this is not recognized fully because no philosophical book has systematically considered the ethical or political ramifications of child maltreatment. By exposing a tension between the rights of children and adults, McFall reveals pervasive ageism; pare
Trade ReviewLicensing Parents: Family, State, and Child Maltreatment presents an eloquent and passionate argument, advanced with purity of heart, for undergirding the family in order that the most precious of all, namely children, will have from the very start of their lives the most majestic affirmation that is humanly possible. -- Laurence Thomas, Syracuse University
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Chapter 1: A Sense of Justice and Political Stability Chapter 3 Chapter 2: Non-Rawlsian ISJs and Self-Respect Chapter 4 Chapter 3: Family Egalitarianism Chapter 5 Chapter 4: What is a Family? Chapter 6 Chapter 5: Licensing Parents Chapter 7 Chapter 6: Rights and Duties Chapter 8 Chapter 7: The Constitution, Due Process, and Prior Restraint Chapter 9 Chapter 8: Unintended Consequences, Trust, Stability, Evil, and Utopia Chapter 10 Epilogue
