Are Children People?

About this episode

The episode discusses the complexities of children's rights within the framework of liberalism, featuring insights from political theory professor Rita Koganzon.

Children are a problem for liberalism -- and it’s one you can see in everything from school-board wars to fights over “indoctrination.” If all individuals are free and equal, endowed with rights by their Creator, then does that include children? Kids are fully human, yes, but they’re also dependent, impulsive, and not yet capable of adult autonomy. So when do rights actually kick in? Rita Koganzon, a political theory professor at UNC Chapel Hill, has a blunt answer: adult-style rights have to...

People in this episode

Hosts: Jerusalem Demsas, Matthew Yglesias

Guest: Rita Koganzon

Topics covered

• children's rights
• liberalism
• political theory
• autonomy
• education

Keywords

• children
• rights
• liberalism
• political theory
• autonomy
• education
• dependency

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: UNC Chapel Hill

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