PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Worsfold, Victor
TI  - A Philosophical Justification For Children's Rights
AID  - 10.17763/haer.44.1.7323301101628054
DP  - 1974 Apr 01
TA  - Harvard Educational Review
PG  - 142--157
VI  - 44
IP  - 1
4099  - http://harvardeducationalreview.org/content/44/1/142.short
4100  - http://harvardeducationalreview.org/content/44/1/142.full
SO  - herp1974 Apr 01; 44
AB  - The author discusses the status of children's rights according to various philosophical conceptions of social justice. He describes three traditional paternalist views of children and concludes that, on the whole, they are discouraging in their implications for children. After analyzing some of the difficulties of previous philosophical attempts to create systems of justice ensuring children's rights, Worsfold sets forth three criteria which any adequate justification for children's rights must fulfill. He argues that these criteria are best met within the theory of justice proposed by John Rawls which, while still paternalistic, presents a more adequate framework for securing children's rights to fair treatment.