Moral status and human life : the case for children's superiority / James G. Dwyer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dwyer, James G., 1961-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Children.

Social status--Moral and ethical aspects.

Social status.

Physical Description:

viii, 212 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Summary:

"Are children of equal, lesser, or perhaps even greater moral importance than adults? This work of applied moral philosophy develops a comprehensive account of how adults as moral agents ascribe moral status to beings - ourselves and others - and on the basis of that account identifies multiple criteria for having moral status. It argues that proper application of those criteria should lead us to treat children as of greater moral importance than adults. This conclusion presents a basis for critiquing existing social practices, many of which implicitly presuppose that children occupy an inferior status, and for suggesting how government policy, law, and social life might be different if it reflected an assumption that children are actually of superior status"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

What is moral status and why does it matter?

How is moral status determined?

Selecting criteria of moral status

Problems in applying a multicriterial approach

Applying a multicriteria moral status test to adults and children

Legal, policy, and moral implications of children's superiority.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-208) and index.

ISBN:

9780521766913

0521766915

OCLC:

644661775

Online:

Cover image

Publisher description

Contributor biographical information