This chapter evaluates a reductive approach to the conceptualisation of power and a reductive approach to the resolution of moral conflicts when evaluating parental power. Psychology and Foucauldian sociology are indicative of two distinct approaches to the conceptualisation of parental power. The psychology literature supports a pluralist, non-reductive approach to the conceptualisation of parental power in political philosophy. The chapter looks at the psychology literature on children's agency, where the empirical evidence suggests positive associations between children's negative freedom and children's positive freedom. It concerns the differences between science and ethics, and argues that there is an irreducible plurality of power concepts, including 'power to', 'power with', and the various forms of 'power over'. Within the 'power over' category, the chapter distinguishes coercion, interference with liberty, control, authority, and paternalism.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, something resembling a German community had actually evolved in Bombay, as several commentators noted. Whatever interaction the Germans in India may have had with wider European society, it seems clear that a distinct secular German community had evolved and become politicised by the outbreak of the First World War. Children remained at the centre of the German missionary families, whether or not they followed in the footsteps of their parents, as in the case of British children, whether or not they had missionary parents. While relationships between the Basel missionaries and other Europeans operated upon an equal footing, interaction with Indians partially worked on the basis of a racial hierarchy, with Germans at the top. Within the emerging religious communities of mixed ethnicity, German identity survived.

In addressing the issue of informed consent, this chapter examines the legitimacy of the exercise of parents' power over their children. It begins with the legal status of minors and, in particular, the legal rights of minors to make informed consent decisions. The chapter investigates some important legal, policy, and service issues concerning informed consent. The discussion of legal, policy, and service issues, empirical findings about children's competence, professional judgements of competence, and the impact of parenting on children's competence, indicate where conceptual clarification is greatly needed. The chapter also examines empirical evidence relating to children's informed consent. It explores a number of central conceptual issues and addresses a number of ethical questions concerning children's informed consent. The chapter focuses on children's competence in joint decision making. It also focuses on the concepts of competence and voluntariness.

This chapter shows that the moral dilemmas, for which the liberal account of practical reason is required, arise not only in the political domain but also in relations between parents and children. It examines the role played by consent in the legitimation of power generally and parents' power in particular. Liberals, in their evaluation of the legitimacy of power relations in family, examine whether and to what extent they are based on the consent of the subjugated party. The chapter evaluates the legal validity of parental power by exploring the legal rights granted by the State to parents and children, as well as their legal duties. These legal rights and duties can be discerned from an examination of constitutions and legislation, as well as obligations arising from international, binding covenants and treaties. The chapter considers what type of reasoning is appropriate to justify the coercive imposition of society's basic institutions.

This part provides different definitions of paternalism that political philosophers employ. Based on an extended analysis of the caretaker thesis and the liberation thesis, the part argues that parental power often is not paternalistic. Parents exercise their power in ways that are not paternalistic. The concept of paternalism focuses on both the nature of power and also the role of the philosopher in considering its legitimacy.

This chapter evaluates the legitimacy of parental licences and the monitoring and training of parents. It discusses the evidence for the effectiveness of parental training programmes as a means to protect children's interests. It explores conceptual questions, relevant empirical evidence, and legal, policy, and service issues concerning parental licences and the monitoring and training of parents. The chapter also explores various proposals for the State's role in respect of adults becoming parents and retaining the right to parent, including the licensing and monitoring of parents. Through the passing of legislation, the implementation of policies, and the provision of services, the State exercises a profound influence on parenting. The chapter examines opportunities both to acknowledge the presence of moral conflict and to try to resolve such conflicts through practical reasoning and practical judgement.

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is about parents, power, and children and, in particular, the legitimacy of parents' power over their children. It talks about the prevailing or dominant approach to the analysis of parental power. The book proposes an alternative, pluralist view of paternalism. It shows that even paternalism properly understood is of limited application when we evaluate parental power. The book addresses a number of ethical questions through practical reason and practical judgement. It looks at an example of how political philosophers tend to approach moral conflicts. The book argues for an approach influenced in part by John Rawls's account of reasonableness and Thomas Nagel's account of 'public justification in a context of actual disagreement'.