Moral Status and Human Life

James Dwyer is a Professor of Law at the College of William and Mary. He previously taught at the University of Wyoming and Chicago-Kent. He received a Ph.D. in philosophy from Stanford University in 1995 and a J.D. from Yale University in 1987. Dwyer has written three other monographs on the rights of children and parents in connection with child rearing, as well as numerous law journal articles on child welfare issues. He serves on the board of several child advocacy organizations and has advocated for children in court proceedings.

• 1. What is moral status and why does it matter?; 2. How is moral status determined?; 3. Selecting criteria of moral status; 4. Problems in applying a multi-criterial approach; 5. Applying a multi-criteria moral status test to adults and children; 6. Legal, policy, and moral implications of children's superiority.

'This is an engagingly written book that tackles a topic of vital interest not only for moral philosophers but also those having general academic, law and policy-making concerns with the status of children and the role of the family. Dwyer's style is direct, concise and philosophically literate and his overall conclusions are original and provocative.' Harry Brighouse, University of Wisconsin