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Saplings or caterpillars? : trying to understand children's wellbeing

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Tomlin, Patrick (2016) Saplings or caterpillars? : trying to understand children's wellbeing. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 35 . pp. 29-46. doi:10.1111/japp.12204

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/japp.12204

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Abstract

Is childhood valuable? And is childhood as, less, or more, valuable than adulthood? In this article I first delineate several different questions that we might be asking when we think about the ‘value of childhood’, and I explore some difficulties of doing so. I then focus on the question of whether childhood is good for the person who experiences it. I argue for two key claims. First, if childhood wellbeing is measured by the same standards as adulthood, then children are worse off than adults. Second, if childhood and adulthood wellbeing are measured by different standards, then we cannot compare them, and children are neither better off nor worse off than adults. This has some counter‐intuitive implications, such as that we do not harm persons by depriving them of a childhood, nor by keeping them as children for elongated periods.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General)
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Philosophy
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Children and philosophy, Children -- Philosophy, Well-being -- Philosophy
Journal or Publication Title: Journal of Applied Philosophy
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
ISSN: 0264-3758
Official Date: 24 March 2016
Dates:
DateEvent
24 March 2016Published
1 January 2012Accepted
Volume: 35
Page Range: pp. 29-46
DOI: 10.1111/japp.12204
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access

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