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The Philosophical Parent: Asking the Hard Questions About Having and Raising Children
Becoming parents draws us into philosophical quandaries before our children have even been born. Why do most of us want to have children? Should we make new people, despite life's travails and our crowded world? Is adoptive parenthood just the same as biological parenthood? Once children arrive, the questions start to be a mix of the profound and the practical. Should we share our lifestyle with our children, no matter how unusual? Should we vaccinate and may we circumcise? Should we encourage gender differences?
Tracing the arc of parenthood from the earliest days to the college years and beyond, Jean Kazez explores 18 questions for philosophical parents, applying the tools of philosophy and drawing on personal experience. The Philosophical Parent offers a novel account of the parent-child relationship and uses it to tackle a variety of parenting puzzles, but more than that, Kazez celebrates both having children and philosophical reflection. Her book provides a challenging but cheerful companion for thoughtful parents and parents-to-be.
Tracing the arc of parenthood from the earliest days to the college years and beyond, Jean Kazez explores 18 questions for philosophical parents, applying the tools of philosophy and drawing on personal experience. The Philosophical Parent offers a novel account of the parent-child relationship and uses it to tackle a variety of parenting puzzles, but more than that, Kazez celebrates both having children and philosophical reflection. Her book provides a challenging but cheerful companion for thoughtful parents and parents-to-be.
336 pages, Hardcover
Published July 3, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 13, 2017
Thank you to the publishers for providing an ARC of the book through NetGalley.
This was a really interesting book, following the philosophical questions regarding pregnancy, abortion, adoption, childbirth and children. I particularly liked the parts about adoption. However, it was quite difficult to follow and understand.
This was a really interesting book, following the philosophical questions regarding pregnancy, abortion, adoption, childbirth and children. I particularly liked the parts about adoption. However, it was quite difficult to follow and understand.
August 8, 2023
An enjoyable book written at an everyday conversational level that discusses 18 different parenting-themed topics, including why to have kids during climate change or how to approach parenting archtypes about vaccination or religion.
The good: This book is motivated by the ancient Greek philosophical striving to understand the good life, and returns often to Aristotle's observation that a child is of the self (of the parent) but separate. Kazez uses this idea frequently to escape dilemmas and refocus discussion on how a parent can achieve the good life for a family. She also rightly questions Western philosophy's dismissive view of parenting as an option for fulfillment. My wife enjoyed the discussion of different philosophical views for feeling pain through natural birth or taking a more medicalized approach.
What could be better: this book felt, in it's reach to cover 18 topics conversationally, like its 10-20 page chapters were too thin. I think a conversational and unpretentious style is ambituous and very needed in philosophy to make excellent ideas clear and available. However, within this book I found myself agreeing with what felt like conventional wisdom defended by philosophical thought expirements; I never quite found an excellent and memorable idea in the conversational prose, and also didnt see what the stakes were for defending conventional wisdom. I was also excited for the author to expand and endorse or critisize Aristotle on parenting with clarity, but this never quite happened -- kids as the self but seperate, the virtue of treating kids as sometimes similar to us and sonetimes seperate was left in the ambiguous middle, perhaps a frustratingly appropriate homage to the Nichomachean ethics.
The good: This book is motivated by the ancient Greek philosophical striving to understand the good life, and returns often to Aristotle's observation that a child is of the self (of the parent) but separate. Kazez uses this idea frequently to escape dilemmas and refocus discussion on how a parent can achieve the good life for a family. She also rightly questions Western philosophy's dismissive view of parenting as an option for fulfillment. My wife enjoyed the discussion of different philosophical views for feeling pain through natural birth or taking a more medicalized approach.
What could be better: this book felt, in it's reach to cover 18 topics conversationally, like its 10-20 page chapters were too thin. I think a conversational and unpretentious style is ambituous and very needed in philosophy to make excellent ideas clear and available. However, within this book I found myself agreeing with what felt like conventional wisdom defended by philosophical thought expirements; I never quite found an excellent and memorable idea in the conversational prose, and also didnt see what the stakes were for defending conventional wisdom. I was also excited for the author to expand and endorse or critisize Aristotle on parenting with clarity, but this never quite happened -- kids as the self but seperate, the virtue of treating kids as sometimes similar to us and sonetimes seperate was left in the ambiguous middle, perhaps a frustratingly appropriate homage to the Nichomachean ethics.
September 7, 2018
As the author opens the text, parenthood could begin like that too- with little effort or by accident. It's wonderfully written, examining philosophical thoughts derived from the greats like Aristotle. Setting limits, religion, and many other topics like how best to prepare children for the world is detailed. I enjoyed it
June 3, 2019
More autobiographical and less comprehensive than I expected, but I still appreciated how it touched on such a diverse array of subjects.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews