Ethics and the Endangerment of Children's Bodies

Gunter Graf is Research Fellow at the International Research Centre for Social and Ethical Questions (IFZ) in Salzburg, Austria, and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Ethics and Poverty Research (CEPR) of the University of Salzburg, where he works in the project “Social Justice and Child Poverty”. His work primarily addresses political and social philosophy, with a focus on the capability approach and its relation to poverty and children. His previous publications include A Philosophical Examination of Social Justice and Child Poverty (2015). Gottfried Schweiger is Senior Researcher at the Centre for Ethics and Poverty Research, University of Salzburg, Austria, where he is the principal investigator of the project “Social Justice and Child Poverty”, funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). He has published works on poverty, unemployment, recognition, social justice, tax justice, and justice in professional sports. His previous publications include Justice, Education and the Politics of Childhood (2016).

“The book walks the well-known tightrope which characterises discussions about children’s right to protection …  a strength of this book is that it achieves a genuine sense of child centredness with the child’s well-being and well-becoming always at the forefront of the discussion. … I found this book engaging and accessible ... offers a very useful perspective for students and practitioners in a broad range of settings.” (Elsie Whittington, Children & Society, 2018)“The relevance of the topics, together with honest, accurate, and original ways to address them, make this book appealing reading for those interested in body ethics and politics, philosophy of childhood, social justice, and policy-making.” (Rosana Trivino Caballero, Journal of Applied Philosophy, September, 2017)“Austrian philosophers Graf and Schweiger provide a justice-based ethical evaluation of three areas they identify as serious threats to children’s ‘body integrity’ in affluent societies: eating, sexuality, and violence. … Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.” (K. E. Murphy, Choice, Vol. 54 (10), June, 2017)

• 1. Children’s Bodily Integrity: Ethics and Child Well-Being in Affluent Societies.- 2. Body, Nutrition and eating disorders.- 2.1. Childhood Obesity.- 2.2. Childhood and emotional eating.- 3. Body and Sexualisation.- 3.1. The Sexualisation of Childhood.- 3.2. Non-commercial Child Sexual Abuse.- 3.3. Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.- 4. Body and Violence.- 4.1. Child Physical Abuse and Neglect.- 4.2. Violence between peers.- 5. Conclusions: Ethical Policies for Safeguarding Children.