Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T12:26:35.546Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is children’s wellbeing different from adults’ wellbeing?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Andrée-Anne Cormier  and
Mauro Rossi Open the ORCID record for Mauro Rossi [Opens in a new window]
Andrée-Anne Cormier
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, York University, Glendon College, Toronto, Canada
Mauro Rossi*
Affiliation:
Département de philosophie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Canada
*
Mauro Rossi rossi.mauro@uqam.caDépartement de philosophie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Case postale 8888, succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QuébecH3C 3P8, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Call generalism about children’s and adults’ wellbeing the thesis that the same theory of wellbeing applies to both children and adults. Our goal is to examine whether generalism is true. While this question has not received much attention in the past, it has recently been suggested that generalism is likely to be false and that we need to elaborate different theories of children’s and adults’ wellbeing. In this paper, we defend generalism against the main objections it faces and make a positive case for it.

Keywords

Wellbeingchildrengeneralismspecial goods of childhoodchildren’s development
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Philosophy , Volume 49 , Issue 8 , December 2019 , pp. 1146 - 1168
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Journal of Philosophy 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexandrova, A. 2017. A Philosophy for the Science of Well-Being. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Annas, J. 1993. The Morality of Happiness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Badhwar, N. 2014. Well-Being: Happiness in a Worthwhile Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brennan, S. 2014. “The Goods of Childhood and Children’s Rights.” In Family Making: Contemporary Ethical Challenges, edited by Baylis, F. and Macleod, C. 29–48. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brighouse, H. and Swift, A. 2014. Family Values: The Ethics of Parent-Child Relationships. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Crisp, R. 2006. Reasons and the Good. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darwall, S. 2002. Welfare and Rational Care. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dorsey, D. 2010. “Three Arguments for Perfectionism.” Noûs 44: 59–79. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0068.2009.00731.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feldman, F. 2010. What Is This Thing Called Happiness? Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fletcher, G. 2013. “A Fresh Start for the Objective-List Theory of Well-Being.” Utilitas 25: 206–220. doi:10.1017/S0953820812000453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fletcher, G. 2016. The Philosophy of Well-Being: An Introduction. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gheaus, A. 2015a. “The ‘Intrinsic Goods of Childhood’ and the Just Society.” In The Nature of Children’s Well-Being, edited by Bagattini, A. and Macleod, C. 35–52. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Gheaus, A. 2015b. “Unfinished Adults and Defective Children: On the Nature and Value of Childhood.” Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 9 (1 ): 1–21. doi:10.26556/jesp.v9i1.85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gopnik, A. 2009. The Philosophical Baby: What Children’s Minds Tell Us about Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.Google Scholar
Gopnik, A. Meltzoff, A. and Kuhl, P. 1999. The Scientist in the Crib. New York: William Morris and Company.Google Scholar
Hannan, S. 2018. “Why Childhood Is Bad for Children.” Journal of Applied Philosophy 35 (1 ): 11–28. doi:10.1111/japp.12256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hausman, D. 1995. “The Impossibility of Interpersonal Utility Comparisons.” Mind 104: 473–490. doi:10.1093/mind/104.415.473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haybron, D. 2008. The Pursuit of Unhappiness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Heathwood, C. 2016. “Desire-Fulfilment Theory.” In The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Well-Being, edited by Fletcher, G. 135–147. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hooker, B. 1996. “Does Moral Virtue Constitute a Benefit to the Agent? ” In How Should One Live? edited by Crisp, R. 141–155. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hooker, B. 2015. “The Elements of Well-Being.” Journal of Practical Ethics 3 (1 ): 15–35.Google Scholar
Killen, M. and Smetana, J. G. 2015. “Origins and Development of Morality.” In Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science, Vol. 3, edited by Lamb, M. E. and Lerner, R. M. 701–749. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Korsgaard, C. 1983. “Two Distinctions in Goodness.” Philosophical Review 92 (2 ): 169–195. doi:10.2307/2184924.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, M. 2015. “Emotional Development and Consciousness.” In Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science: Vol. 1. Theory and Method, edited by Overton, W. F. Molenaar, P. C. M. and Lerner, R. M. 407–451. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Lin, E. 2017a. “Against Welfare Subjectivism.” Noûs 51: 354–377. doi:10.1111/nous.12131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, E. 2017b. “Enumeration and Explanation in Theories of Welfare.” Analysis 77: 65–73. doi:10.1093/analys/anx035.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, E. 2018. “Welfare Invariabilism.” Ethics 128: 320–345. doi:10.1086/694272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macleod, C. 2010. “Primary Goods, Capabilities, and Children.” In Measuring Justice: Primary Goods and Capabilities, edited by Brighouse, H. and Robeyns, I. 174–192. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macleod, C. 2015. “Agency, Authority, and the Vulnerability of Children.” In The Nature of Children’s Well-Being, edited by Bagattini, A. and Macleod, C. 53–64. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
McCormack, T. and Atance, C. 2011. “Planning in Young Children: A Review and Synthesis.” Developmental Review 31: 1–31. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2011.02.002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meltzoff, A. 1995. “Understanding the Intentions of Others: Re-Enactment of Intended Acts by 18-Month-Old Children.” Developmental Psychology 31: 838–850. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.31.5.838.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Posner, M. I. and Rothbart, M. K. 1998. “Attention, Self-Regulation and Consciousness.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 353: 1915–1927. doi:10.1098/rstb.1998.0344.Google ScholarPubMed
Rabinowicz, W. and Rønnow-Rasmussen, T. 1999. “A Distinction in Value: Intrinsic and for Its Own Sake.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 100: 33–51. doi:10.1111/j.0066-7372.2003.00002.x.Google Scholar
Raghavan, R. and Alexandrova, A. 2014. “Towards a Theory of Child Well-Being.” Social Indicators Research 121: 887–902.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rawls, J. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Raz, J. 1986. The Morality of Freedom. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Rice, C. 2013. “Defending the Objective List Theory of Well-Being.” Ratio 26 (2 ): 196–211. doi:10.1111/rati.2013.26.issue-2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roth-Hanania, R. Davidov, M. and Zahn-Waxler, C. 2011. “Empathy Development from 8 to 16 Months: Early Signs of Concern for Others.” Infant Behavior & Development 34 (3 ): 447–458. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2011.04.007.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Russell, D. 2012. Happiness for Humans. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schapiro, T. 1999. “What Is a Child? ” Ethics 109 (4 ): 715–738. doi:10.1086/233943.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skelton, A. 2015. “Utilitarianism, Welfare, Children.” In The Nature of Children’s Well-Being, edited by Bagattini, A. and Macleod, C. 85–103. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Skelton, A. 2016. “Children’s Well-Being: A Philosophical Analysis.” In The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Well-Being, edited by Fletcher, G. 366–377. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Suikkanen, J. 2011. “An Improved Whole Life Satisfaction Theory of Happiness.” International Journal of Wellbeing 1 (1 ): 1–18.Google Scholar
Sumner, L. W. 1996. Welfare, Happiness, and Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tomlin, P. 2018a. “Saplings or Caterpillars? Trying to Understand Children’s Wellbeing.” Journal of Applied Philosophy 35 (1 ): 29–46. doi:10.1111/japp.2018.35.issue-S1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomlin, P. 2018b. “The Value of Childhood.” In The Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Childhood and Children, edited by Calder, G. Gheaus, A. and de Wispelaere, J. 79–89. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Vaish, A. Carpenter, M. and Tomasello, M. 2010. “Young Children Selectively Avoid Helping People with Harmful Intentions.” Child Development 81 (6 ): 1661–1669. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01500.x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vaish, A. Carpenter, M. and Tomasello, M. 2011. “Three-Year-Old Children Intervene in Third-Party Moral Transgressions.” British Journal of Developmental Psychology 29: 124–130. doi:10.1348/026151010X532888.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warneken, F. and Tomasello, M. 2013. “The Emergence of Contingent Reciprocity in Young Children.” Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 116: 338–350. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2013.06.002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weinstock, D. 2018. “On the Complementarity of the Ages of Life.” Journal of Applied Philosophy 35 (1 ): 47–59. doi:10.1111/japp.2018.35.issue-S1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wray-Lake, L. Crouter, A. C. and McHale, S. M. 2010. “Developmental Patterns in Decision-Making Autonomy across Middle Childhood and Adolescence: European American Parents’ Perspectives.” Child Development 81 (2 ): 636–651. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01420.x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zahn-Waxler, C. Radke-Yarrow, M. Wagner, E. and Chapman, M. 1992. “Development of Concern for Others.” Developmental Psychology 28 (1 ): 126–136. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.28.1.126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmerman, M. 2001. The Nature of Intrinsic Value. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar