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Doret de Ruyter, The Claims of Parenting: Reasons, Responsibility and Society – By Stefan Ramaekers and Judith Suissa, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume 47, Issue 4, December 2013, Pages 659–662, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9752.12049
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Extract
Upbringing and the parent-child relationship are not often addressed by books and articles within Anglophone philosophy of education. Traditionally, the field has focused on schools. For a continental European philosopher of education more used to upbringing being a focus of attention, Ramaekers and Suissa’s (R&S) book is a welcome addition to the growing literature on education within families.
Ramaekers and Suissa have written a timely book. Parents and parenting have entered the spotlight in recent years. The number of television series and self-help books that inform parents about how they can successfully raise their children into flourishing adults has grown immensely and parenting practices are widely discussed within the media and politics. Within academia, parents and parenting also receive attention but, as R&S write, this is primarily from empirical researchers within the scientific disciplines of (developmental) psychology and pedagogy. Their book is interesting because of the position the authors develop and defend, and is a wonderful read due to the various examples they provide from philosophical books, self-help books, TV, and their own experiences. These examples serve both as illustrations of their own claims and as sources of analysis. I cannot do justice to the richness of the book, but I will give a short summary and hope that this is sufficient to enthuse people to buy or download the book and enjoy reading it.