Presenting real life cases from clinical practice this book claims that children can be
conceived of as moral equals without ignoring the fact that they still are children and in need
of strong family relationships. Drawing upon recent advances in childhood studies and its key
feature the 'agentic child' it uncovers the ideology of adultism which has seeped into much
what has been written about childhood ethics. However this book also critically examines those
positions that do accord moral equality to children but on grounds not strong enough to support
their claim. It lays the groundwork for a theory of moral equality by assessing the concepts of
parenthood family best interest paternalism and above all autonomy and trust which are so
important in envisioning what we owe the child. It does not only show how children - like
adults - should be considered moral agents from infancy but also how ethical theories
addressing adults can significantly profit from recognizing this. The analysis takes into
account contributions from European as well as American scholars and makes use of a wide range
of ethical psychological cultural and social-scientific research.
