About

Parenthood has been the topic of interest from across several disciplines including anthropology (Ramos-Zayas 2020); sociology (Wilcox & Kline 2013); cultural history (Bomback 2022); psychology (Bornstein 2002), and ethics (cf. Baylis & McLeod 2014). Within philosophy, research on parenthood generally stems from an analytical perspective (cf. Baron 2023; Kazez 2017) and tends to focus on issues such as the ethics of parenthood (Archard and Benatar 2011; Baylis and McLeod 2014), the nature of parental rights (Ahlberg and Cholbi 2017; Austin 2007); the moral nature of parenting (Kazez 2017); and shifting ideas of motherhood and fatherhood (Dermott 2008).

There is much to learn from state-of-the-art research on parenthood, principally: (i) parenthood is a significant and complex aspect of human life; (ii) the understanding of parenthood has been shaped by cultural, historical, and societal factors; and (iii) the topic of parenthood involves a series of themes pertinent for philosophical analysis. Notwithstanding these perspectives, there are a number of critical lacunae within current state-of-the-art research.

• To date, there has been no systematic analysis of lived experiences of parenthood from a phenomenological perspective. 

• We lack a detailed analysis of how lived experiences of parenthood are shaped by broader cultural, historical, and societal factors. 

• We lack a detailed analysis of how parenthood enriches and diversifies the experience of how we relate to the social world. 

In response to these oversights, the project deploys a methodology involving both conceptual and applied dimensions, with both aspects centred on the first-person experience of parenthood and how these experiences have been shaped by cultural, historical, and societal factors. The motivation for developing this methodology stems from the need to (i) advance the understanding of parenthood through conducting a first-person study of the phenomena grounded in a phenomenological framework, and, (ii) interrogate the cultural, historical, and societal roots underpinning the idea of parenthood. In concrete terms, the methodology is structured around the specific requirements of each phase of the project. With respect to source material for the first-person perspectives, the project will develop a bespoke online questionnaire study in order to solicit a diverse set of lived experiences of parenthood.