Studia humana (SH) is a multi-disciplinary peer reviewed journal publishing valuable
contributions on any aspect of human sciences such as...
read more...

 

Ian Hersum

Ian Hersum is a student in the fields of philosophy and economics, drawing from the tradition of Austro-libertarian thought, and specifically, the work of Murray Rothbard. Having long been a sporadic and analytical thinker, he is now in the process of organizing and articulating his own ideas.


 

ARTICLES:

A Rational Theory of the Rights of Children

Issue: 9:2 (the thirty fourth issue)
Libertarianism has often found itself under attack from those with misplaced
maternal instincts, who champion the state as the honorable protector of the
vulnerable – and there is no one more in need of protection than a helpless
infant. Consequently, much of the vitriol aimed at libertarianism and its
laissez-faire attitude has included morbid references to child abuse and
exploitation which would supposedly result from its implementation. It is
therefore imperative that more work be done on the topic of children’s rights in
order to reinforce the philosophical framework developed by Murray Rothbard
[9] and expanded on by Walter Block and others [2], [3], [5], [6]. The purpose
of this paper is to provide an independent rational foundation for the
conclusions drawn by Block and co-authors [2], [5] and to expand on parts that
are insufficient.