CFP: The Virtues and Vices of Having Children
In recent years, a number of conflicting messages about the value and priority of having children have been sent by academia. While we appear to be facing a demographic cliff in college age students, many academics continue to talk about the dangers of overpopulation and that outright human extinction might be an improvement to our world. While the traditional view has been that children make parents happy and are central to their overall lifelong fulfillment, there have been a number of papers challenging this view. In ethics, some have claimed that it is outrightly unethical to have children as bringing people into existence inevitably causes them unnecessary pain and harm. Yet, many traditional thinkers have thought it was honorable and praiseworthy to have children for the good of the polis, or as the natural telos of sexuality.
In response to these conflicting views concerning the value of having children, we are hosting a conference on the Virtues and Vices of Having Children.
Potential Topics:
Is there a moral directive to have children?
Is there a moral directive against having children?
What virtues do parents need? What virtues do children need?
Parents, children, and virtues of acknowledged dependence
The problem of vicious parenting
The problem of vicious children
What do we owe our children in an age of equity?
Philosophy and parenting: which virtues should we teach?
Are children born in the 21st century likely to have worthwhile lives?
Are children necessary for a more meaningful life?
What birthrate is most beneficial to the larger society?
What are the demands of procreative justice?
Do children improve or undermine their parent’s happiness?
How has changing family (and other) social structures affected the prudence of having children?
How does having children help us better understand our own parents?
How does having children help us better understand ourselves?
The role of genetic counseling in the decision to have children
Would state licensing of parents be wise or foolish?
Does having children bring couples together or drive them apart?
The role of the state in parenting and education
The role of the family in parenting and education
What is the ideal family size?
What rights do parents need?
Is there a morally unacceptable risk in bringing new people into the world (as Hayry suggests)?
Is some sort of consent needed to bring future persons into the world (as Shiffrin suggests)?
Abstracts of ~1000 words are due 11/1/25. Send all submissions to eric.silverman@cnu.edu. All papers will be considered for inclusion in a book proposal following the conference. The sessions for each paper will be 50 minutes. Conference papers should be 3000-4000 words for 20-30 minutes of reading time. There will be a nominal registration fee for all participants.
The Conference will be held in person March 13-15, 2026 at Christopher Newport University. Our keynote speakers will be Alex Pruss (Baylor) and Bryan Caplan (George Mason University). Caplan’s appearance will be by video.
Sponsored by The Christopher Newport University Department of Philosophy and Religion and The Institute for Religion, Politics, and Culture at Washington College