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Summary
Summary
Having and raising a child forces parents to confront questions that can consume even the most dedicated of philosophers. For those for whom it is a choice whether or not to have children, even the question of whether it is right to have a child is perplexing and difficult. And, if you do have a child, then what do you do? What are your obligations as a parent? Should you remain a neutral steward of your child's independent life, or intervene more strongly? How can you interact with your child to best ensure that that child leads a good life, while not going too far to protect her? On the more practical level, what is the ethical parent to do when it comes to issues like circumcision, vaccination, and teaching children about gender? These are a few of the eighteen questions that Jean Kazez considers in The Philosophical Parent. Drawing on personal experience and philosophical insight, Kazez provides a useful and illuminating companion to parenthood by tracing the arc of a child's development, and addressing all the puzzles that arise along the way. Though arguing ardently for a novel view of the bond between child and parent, Kazez adeptly guides her readers to form their own perspectives as well-their own way of becoming philosophical parents.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Philosophy professor Kazez (Animalkind: What We Owe to Animals) uses a mix of philosophical proofs and science to explore a mix of theoretical and practical parenting questions. Questions in the former category include whether babies are lucky to be born and what parents are for; questions in the latter include whether to circumcise or vaccinate and whether to raise children with religious beliefs. She appeals to new parents' innate sense of logic and ethics as alternatives to parenting experts. Kazez grounds her ideas in the Aristotelian perspective that a biological child is "another self, but separate" in order to understand parents' intense identification with their children and the obligations conferred by this unique relationship. She picks and chooses her controversies carefully. For example, she explores the idea of when personhood begins while opting out of any discussion of abortion because, in her words, her intended reader is "deliberately pregnant and eager to become a parent," but then dives into equally irrelevant questions regarding adoption and population control. Sections about how we treat our children later in life fit more into the parent-as-philosopher mode Kazez promises. Though her conclusions are far from groundbreaking, soon-to-be-parents will find thinking through her arguments a good way to engage their minds beyond the immediate practicalities of child-rearing. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Choice Review
Unless one has endured the many pleasures and occasional pains of the "Why?" stage with a three- to five-year-old, one might not immediately think of parenting as a philosophical endeavor. This wonderfully thoughtful book amply demonstrates that philosophy has a great deal to teach about what it means to parent and how to do that well and that parents often need to be philosophers themselves. A professor of philosophy and the author of two previous books--The Weight of Things: Philosophy and the Good Life (CH, Jan'08, 45-2537) and Animalkind: What We Owe to Animals--Kazez (Southern Methodist Univ.) gently and with exceptional erudition takes readers by the hand and examines a series of often extraordinary questions associated with one of the most routine human activities--having and raising children. She begins her exploration of the philosophy of parenting by asking whether it is right to bring children into the world, setting herself against those who would be "anti-natalists." She goes on to consider, cogently and with great care, questions about such matters as the decision to circumcise, whether it is ever appropriate to lie to one's child, and, ultimately, what kind of meaning having children adds to people's lives. Summing Up: Essential. All readers. --Randolph R. Cornelius, Vassar College
Library Journal Review
Kazez (philosophy, Southern Methodist Univ.; The Weight of Things) begins by summing up the relationship between parenting and philosophy perfectly when she writes "having children turns every parent and parent-to-be into a philosopher." For this reviewer, the parent of two small children, that claim is as valid. The questions that arise for parents and would-be parents are numerous and cover a wide range of topics such as "Is there anything special about having a child?" to "Should parents reinforce gender?" Kazez helps with finding answers or at least showing the complexity of these questions by arranging the topics chronologically by stages of parenting and looking at them through the lens of different philosophical views and parenting experience. Most importantly, these chapters are also short and can be read individually so that parents can focus on topics of interest and actually finish reading them. VERDICT Kazez's combination of philosophy and parenting experience makes this work recommended for parents who are searching for answers to meaningful questions surrounding child-rearing.-Scott -Duimstra, Capital Area Dist. Lib., Lansing, MI © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Introduction | p. ix |
| 1 Children Come from Us: What's so special about having kids? | p. 1 |
| 2 Life Is Good: Are babies lucky to be born or just the opposite? | p. 15 |
| 3 Quantity Control: Must we care about population statistics? | p. 31 |
| 4 Quality Control: Should we mess with nature? | p. 47 |
| 5 In the Beginning: What's going on in there? | p. 67 |
| 6 A Child Is Born: Is labor pain simply awful? | p. 85 |
| 7 Whose Child Is This? Why do biological parents have prerogatives? | p. 99 |
| 8 Nobody's Child: Does biology really matter? | p. 117 |
| 9 Parenthood's Aim: What's a parent for? | p. 133 |
| 10 First Decisions: To cut or not to cut? | p. 151 |
| 11 Still Life with Child: Who's going to care for the baby? | p. 171 |
| 12 Boys and Girls: Is it okay to prefer a girl or a boy? Should parents reinforce gender? | p. 187 |
| 13 The One and the Many: When must I contribute to group efforts? | p. 209 |
| 14 Lies, Lies, Lies: Should we ever lie to our children ... or for them? | p. 231 |
| 15 Passing on Religion: Should we raise children in our own image? | p. 245 |
| 16 Letting Go: What should we do for our grown children? | p. 259 |
| 17 Going Home: What should our grown children do for us? | p. 269 |
| 18 Parenthood and Meaning: Does parenthood make us better off? | p. 277 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 293 |
| Annotated Bibliography | p. 295 |
| Index | p. 315 |