Parenting and the Goods of Childhood
Luara Ferracioli
Abstract
Abstract What gives someone a moral right to parent? What role should the liberal state play in the creation of families? Are prospective parents allowed to create a child in a world facing a changing climate and full of parentless children? This book defends a new theory of the moral right to parent by focusing on the special role of parents in creating the conditions for the flourishing of their children irrespective of whether there is a biological connection between them. It also argues that although procreative and adoptive parenting enjoy equal moral standing, justice toward children requires that the liberal state makes adoption more desirable and feasible for its citizens. Finally, the book provides a partial theory of child-rearing which focuses on the goods of childhood that parents are primarily responsible for fostering: carefreeness, enjoyment-driven or curiosity-driven achievement, and friendship.