Olsaretti, Serena2020-04-242021Olsaretti S. Family and justice in political philosophy. In: Thompson WR, editor. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2021. DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1766.http://hdl.handle.net/10230/44326Political philosophers´ interest in the family - understood as a unit in which one or more adults discharge a socially and legally recognised role as primary carers of their children – has a long pedigree. But there is no doubt that over the last half century philosophical discussions of the family have intensified and given rise to an increasingly rich and multi-faceted body of literature. After briefly introducing the key reasons why political philosophers have been interested in the family, this chapter discusses two main sets of questions that arise concerning justice and the family. The first set of questions are about what the family owes society as a matter of justice, that is, about how the family can and should help realise, or how it may hinder the achievement of, independently formulated demands of justice. For example, does the existence of the family necessarily threaten the pursuit of equality of opportunity for children? Should prospective parents constrain their freedom to found and raise a family in light of considerations about the environmental impact that their having and rearing children will have for future generations? The second set of questions concern what society owes families, that is, what we owe our fellow citizens as a matter of justice, insofar as they are actual or potential members of families: Do adults have a right to parent, and to parent particular children? Do children have a right to being raised in families? Should society share in the costs of having and raising children, or may it let most or all of those costs fall on the shoulders of those who freely choose to become parents?application/pdfeng© Oxford University Pressinfo:eu-repo/semantics/bookParthttp://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1766FamilyJusticeParentsChildrenProcreationUpbringingGender justiceIntergenerational justiceinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess