Why Have Children?: The Ethical Debate by Christine Overall (review) [Book Review]

Christine Overall’s book, Why Have Children?: The Ethical Debate, begins with what would seem like an obvious point—that there are better and worse reasons to have a child. Given that that the well-being of a vulnerable and dependent creature hangs on the choice, it surely requires justification. And yet, as she illustrates, philosophers have been comparatively silent about what that justification could or should look like. In this lucid and comprehensive book, Overall sets out to remedy that situation and offer what in the end is a moral justification for having (no more than two) children.The overarching aim of the book is to explore the moral landscape around the choice to have children. Quite reasonably ..