RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A Philosophical Justification For Children's Rights
JF Harvard Educational Review
JO herp
FD Harvard Educational Press
SP 142
OP 157
DO 10.17763/haer.44.1.7323301101628054
VO 44
IS 1
A1 Worsfold, Victor
YR 1974
UL http://harvardeducationalreview.org/content/44/1/142.abstract
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.