Libertarianism & Potential Agents
A Libertarian View of the Moral Rights of Foetuses & Children
By Anna-Karin Andersson
March 2007
Stockholm University
ISBN: 9789185445738
122 pages. 6 1/2 x 9 1/2"
$62.50 paper original
The essay develops a libertarian theory of moral rights, and argues that it can respond effectively to some serious objections that have been raised against libertarianism. Those of us who endorse some version of libertarianism are challenged to explain how our theory can accommodate arguments for children's rights to certain physical integrity and aid.
I defend storng moral rights of human, pre-natal organisms, infants and children against all agents to certain non-interference with their physical integrity. I also argue that parents' moral obligation to aid their offsrping is an implication of a moral principle that prohibits agents to actively harm rights-bearers. Since this is the core principle of all versions of libertarianism, the libertarian theory defended in this essay gains from its simplicity and coherence.
Stockholm Studies in Philosophy No. 30
Political Science
Philosophy