Abstract

In this project, I explore some issues involved in fostering the becoming of new moral agents, particularly within dependent relationships. I argue that how we come to understand and experience our dependency and interdependency begins in childhood, most often within parent-child relationships. The experiences of childhood, as many philosophers and theorists acknowledge, are often carried into adulthood and are not easy to overcome or disregard. Children's experiences tend to be modified by people in positions of authority, among whom are parents. I propose that autonomy, care, love, responsibility, and recognition matter in thinking about children, and that they can better enable children to discover a meaningful sense of their own moral freedom as it relates to others. But the treatment of these concepts needs to take into account issues of human dependency. Within children's rights discourse the understanding of children in terms of freedom is controversial. I will show why doing so is both helpful and necessary. ;I address this project as a feminist concerned with exploring new ways for individuals to relate to one another, with imagining the possibilities of learning to respond to one another in ways that affirm freedom and foster autonomy, and with conceiving of new possibilities for experiencing one's world and the worlds shared with others. Exploring and contributing to dialogue on the topic of what is needed for children to have the best chance of becoming moral agents offers one way to address these concerns