Opinion | The Philosopher as Bad Dad - The New York Times
A few months ago, as I prepared to go on paternity leave, I decided to read up on the subject of fatherhood and turned, as I normally do, to philosophy. Female philosophers had written perceptively about motherhood over the years, but what had been said about fatherhood? Now, with Father’s Day approaching, I thought I’d try to make something of my findings. I began with Socrates, but was not sure what to make of his advice, as recorded in Plato’s “Republic,” that children ought to “be possessed in common, so that no parent will know his own offspring or any child his parents.” Or what about Aristotle’s claim that mothers love their children more than fathers do, and that fathers have the right to disown their sons? Or Confucius: that respecting one’s father will bring pleasure? Or the sexist remarks by Nietzsche: that women needed children and that men were merely a means to that end? Montaigne, in his essay “Of the Affection of Fathers to Their Children,” spoke about fatherhood in mor
A few months ago, as I prepared to go on paternity leave, I decided to read up on the subject of fatherhood and turned, as I normally do, to philosophy. Female philosophers had written perceptively about motherhood over the years, but what had been said about fatherhood? Now, with Father’s Day approaching, I thought I’d try to make something of my findings. I began with Socrates, but was not sure what to make of his advice, as recorded in Plato’s “Republic,” that children ought to “be possessed in common, so that no parent will know his own offspring or any child his parents.” Or what about Ar
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