Conceptions of Parenthood (Ashgate Studies in Applied Ethics) [Hardcover]

Michael W. Austin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0754658384 | ISBN-13: 978-0754658382

Our parents often have a significant impact on the content of our beliefs, the values we hold, and the goals we pursue and becoming a parent can also have a similar impact on our lives. In "Conceptions of Parenthood", Michael Austin provides a rigorous and accessible philosophical analysis of the numerous and distinct conceptions of parenthood. Issues considered are the nature and justification of parental rights, the sources of parental obligations, the value of autonomy, and the moral obligations and tensions present within interpersonal relationships. Austin rejects the 'proprietarian', 'best interests of the child', and 'biological' conceptions of parenthood as failing to generate parental rights and obligations but considers more sympathetically the 'custodial relationship', 'consent', and 'causal' conceptions of parenthood and ultimately defends a 'stewardship' conception. Finally Austin explores the 'stewardship' view for practical and moral questions related to family life and social policy regarding the family, such as the education of children, the religious upbringing of children and state licensing of parents.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael W. Austin is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY, USA.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 138 pages
• Publisher: Ashgate Publishing (August 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0754658384
• ISBN-13: 978-0754658382
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,059,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a philosopher at Eastern Kentucky University, with interests in ethics, philosophy of the family, philosophy of sport, and philosophy of religion. Most of my books are intended to make philosophy accessible to a wide audience. I think at its best philosophical thought can be applied in ways that lead to a wise, good, beautiful, and well-lived life. The result is a life with meaning and purpose that also ends up being deeply satisfying.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Who's your daddy?, March 30, 2009

By 

A. Omelianchuk "www.ochuk.com" (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conceptions of Parenthood (Ashgate Studies in Applied Ethics) (Hardcover)

Everyone knows what a parent is, right? Well, not exactly. For example, while many people believe biology is the determining factor in establishing parental rights and obligations, it absolutely fails-so says Austin. Why? Well when you start asking what exactly it is in biology that determines parenthood things get murky. Is it carrying a child? If so, then are surrogate mothers parents of the children they give out to adoption? What about the sources of egg and sperm? Do donors have the rights to the children they inevitably produce? Or could it be genetic make up? But then, does a father's identical twin brother get a say in how to raise the child? Some think the causal sex act ought to be binding to a parental role, yet no one would want a rapist to be a father of their children.

In the book, Austin argues for a pluralistic understanding parenthood organized around the motif of stewardship. Broadly speaking, this means parents are specially invested in the care-taking and guidance of a young person into adulthood. Imagining the child as a potential adult, a parent is to be primarily interested in the child's well-being and is obligated to nurture and raise the child into a responsible adult capable of his or her own independence. Both parental consent and causal factors play a part in determining whether one is a parent or not. If a couple consents to raise a child, they can achieve parental status by way of adoption. Biological parents who forsake their children forfeit their parental rights, though they cannot annul their obligation to see to it that their children are placed in an environment of caring parental stewardship.

Austin ably submits many puzzles and paradoxes that function as effective examples and counterexamples of parenthood, and effectively demonstrates that it is something that is a moral rather than biological role. It's obligations are related to biological causation, but not necessarily in that consent and moral duty are the primary factors in being a good steward of a child's upbringing.

Though this book was a very dense and at times difficult read, but it was deeply rewarding... though probably not as difficult and rewarding as actually being a parent!