on parenting and autonomy
children as the extension of parents, and the perils of free will
on parenting and autonomy
Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus
i love you so much i could eat you (an essay on cannibalism)
in order to try and protect them, she eats them to return them to the safety of her body (a character kills his enemy’s sons, bakes them into a pie, feeds it to the mother)
this distinction between irrational and unreasonable choices cannot carry this moral load
Circumscribed Autonomy: Children, Care, and Custody
Why should we force children but not adults to act in their self-interests, against their express (but admittedly stupid) wishes?
Circumscribed Autonomy: Children, Care, and Custody
treating them as if they were devoid of autonomy hampers their becoming fully autonomous adults
Circumscribed Autonomy: Children, Care, and Custody
Autonomy is the province of full-fledged rational adults, not immature children
Circumscribed Autonomy: Children, Care, and Custody
This is surely not because freedom of the will has suddenly been inserted into him, but because his assumption of them is a necessary factor in his future growth and movement