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Children and Theories of Social Justice

This paper is about children as subjects of social justice. It argues that economic welfare theory, utilitarianism, and other theories of justice based on utility theory assume rational individuals with stable preferences, and therefore cannot be applied to children. Libertarian justice treats children as possessions of the parents without rights of their own. A Rawlsian social contract, on the other hand, can be extended to include children. The main part of the paper consists of an attempt to sketch such an extension. It argues that justice to children is basic to Rawlsian justice, and that the Rawlsian case for equality is strengthened when children are taken into account. The principle of extensive liberty, when applied to children, must imply that children cannot properly be regarded as the possession of their parents.