HDE 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Social Philosophy, Michel De Montaigne, Hasty Generalization
11 Jun 2018
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I. Lecture 4: Children, Childhood, and Families (April 16, 2018)
A. Many historical critiques and commentary
1. Many historical perspectives of children are now considered untenable, few have remained as influential
as….
a. Childhood is a social construction
b. Children’s lives should be taken seriously
2. Recall interpretive reproduction
a. The children are active agents in their socialization
b. That they contribute to culture, mediated through their interactions with peers
3. *Just because it’s variable doesn’t mean we should neglect it
a. Children’s lives should be taken seriously because some way, shape, or form, they are learning and
being affected by the environment and everything that interacts with them
b. Children are dynamic in their interaction with people, the environment, and everything else in the
world
4. Children used to be painted as miniature versions of full grown adults
B. Moralist
1. In response to the coddling period, a moralistic tradition emerged
2. “I cannot abide that passion for caressing new-born children, which have neither the mental activities nor
recognizable bodily shape by which to make themselves loveable” ~Montaigne (16-17th centuries)
3. Children are immature and childhood is a time for training and discipline
a. Foundational social philosophy and psychology began when these cultural ideals were the norm and to
some extent they still permeate theories and concepts we address today
b. Many child rearing books still maintain advice shaped by the idea that childhood is a time of
immaturity and a time to discipline your children
4. Strictly, speaking the cultural progression from considering childhood neglected, to coddling to moralist is
not exactly correct, but useful in explaining observable trends across societies (mainly western)
5. The Moralist View Shaped Freud
a. Obsession with the physical, moral, and sexual problems that develop in childhood
b. Early moralist helped parents encouraging them that they were the spiritual guardians and responsible
for their children’s souls
c. Early psychologists, shaped by these norms, developed theories for parents to take responsibility for
all aspects of their child’s development
i. Parents and children were seen as qualitatively different and separate parts of culture
ii. Although strong interpretations like these should be cautiously investigated in contemporary
society, they have re-emerged when we discuss the problems and social issues around children
today
C. Theories of Family
1. Theories of families tend to follow the trends and unique history of the nations and cultures where those
families live, and as such, ours is mostly tied to the history of Europe
a. Extended family “tribes” and communities part of society to
b. Isolate nuclear urban families to
c. Isolated children in age demarcated schools with few parents
2. Psychogenic Theory
a. Historical changes in the conceptions and treatment of children result from
i. Individual parents’ working out their own anxieties
ii. And their own psychological problems that stem from their interactions from children
From vicious mistreatment of children in medieval times to more human and nurturing care
in contemporary societies
iii. The further back in history one goes, the lower the level of child care and higher likelihood
children are to be killed, abandoned, beaten, terrorized, and sexually abused
3. Contra grand stage theories
a. Most of the evidence form historical perspectives of children rely on indirect evidence (paintings,
poems, etc.)
b. When direct evidence is researched, much less negative view is revealed
c. Also, when people look back, they tend to focus on negative views in a confirmatory way because it is
so “salient”
Document Summary
In response to the coddling period, a moralistic tradition emerged. Isolated children in age demarcated schools with few parents. Psychogenic theory: historical changes in the conceptions and treatment of children result from. Individual parents" working out their own anxieties: and their own psychological problems that stem from their interactions from children. Still critiques of this historical analysis as it focused on the autobiographies of the upper class who might have feared writing down negative thoughts, or treatment. *big idea: you must think critically across culture and context (space), across contemporary and historical societies (time) when thinking about what children, childhood, and families are: new history of childhood. Progress and decline of childhood: childhood isn"t necessarily getting better, nor is it really disappearing like many suggest, a change in the historical narrative. Stressed the training of children (think about what subsistence was like)
