Political Theory and the Child

Problems of the Individualist Tradition

Bibliographic Data

ID6345841
AuthorsGraham Haydon (University of London, corresponding author)
Year1979
Volume27
Issue3
Pages405-420
Publication date1979-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3217 • E-ISSN: 1467-9248
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9248.1979.tb01212.x
OpenAlexW2069038063
LanguageEN
Citations received1

Consideration of the status and treatment of the child is a legitimate concern of political theory, and may lead to reappraisal of some commonly deployed arguments. Several respects are indicated in which decisions taken by adults and affecting children may properly be considered political. More specifically, it is argued that (i) anarchist theory; (ii) Nozick's arguments in Anarchy, State and Utopia; and (iii) consent theories of political obligation run into difficulties when the place of children is considered. The argument points, under (i) and (ii), to putative lines of justification of the state; and under (iii) to the conclusion, contrary to common assumption, that those who have not yet attained sufficient understanding to be considered as consenting are not morally obliged to obey the state's laws and agents

Argument (complex analysis · Coercion (linguistics · Economics · Epistemology · Individualism · Law and economics · Methodological individualism · Obligation · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Sociology · State (computer science · Utopia · Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism · Political Philosophy and Ethics

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