Dear all,

 I have a student who is interested in exploring philosophical
> arguments for and against various family forms.  She wants to question
> the often-taken-for-granted assumption that the traditional nuclear
> family should be left in place or even promoted.  So, she's interested
> in philosophical discussions of alternative families, including but
> not limited to gay families, polyamorous families, communes and
> kibbutzim, state-run orphanages, child-rearing by extended family or
> neighbourhood, single parents, parenting by friends who do not have
> any sort of romantic or sexual relationship, and anything else that
> I've left out.  While she's found plenty of sociological discussion of
> various family forms, and tons of popular/political discussion of gay
> families, she hasn't found so much philosophical discussion. (She has
> found quite a bit on adoptive families, so doesn't have so much need
> for that.)  She'd be especially interested in arguments that are worth
> responding to in favour of the traditional family, as most that we've
> found are pretty easy to dismiss.

Many thanks for any help you can give!

Best,

Jenny
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-- 
_________________________________________________
Professor Jennifer Saul
Director of Learning and Teaching
Department of Philosophy
University of Sheffield
Sheffield S10 2TN

Ph: 0114 222 0578
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
<http://www.shef.ac.uk/philosophy/staff/profiles/saul.html>