Author(s): Stephen Law (Lecturer in Philosophy, Heythrop College, University of London)

Parenting

Behind headlines on the conflict in Iraq and global terrorism, a much deeper battle is raging over children and the values they should adopt. Political and religious leaders including Blair and Bush have been joined by the popular press in Enlightenment-bashing and bitter attacks on 'liberal parenting', calling for a return to authority and religious tradition. How do we raise good children? How do we make good citizens? In defiant yet acute fashion, Stephen Law urges us to re-evaluate the liberal tradition of thinking about morality. Tackling authoritarian rhetoric head-on, he argues that children should learn about right and wrong, and respect for others, but that their education should be grounded in the hard-won values of the Enlightenment. Taking on neo-conservatives and religious and media commentators, "The War for Children's Minds" is a candid and controversial call for a liberal, philosophically informed approach to raising children. Rejecting accusations that liberal parenting is a Sixties hangover that entails an aimless 'whatever' attitude to morality, Stephen Law exposes the weaknesses of arguments calling for a return to authoritarian styles of moral education.He clearly shows that thinking for oneself does not mean that all moral points of view are equally good, or that we must reject faith in order to think freely. A staunch defence of the humane, liberal life, "The War for Children's Minds" is a much-needed guide to an urgent moral conundrum. First published May 2006.