BELIEVE the children! Vulis wrote:
Out in the hobbsian wild, if the parents abuse their offsprings (kill them, fail to train them), then the offsprings won't reproduce and the parent's genes won't perpetuate. Do we really need a more coersive system of punishing "child abuse"?
We don't (yet) live in the "hobbsian wild". Children do what they are taught. If the are taught to react to the slightest provocation with violence, then they will, when they grow up (notice I didn't say mature), react similarly. If we wish to live in a society of reasonable people, our children need to be raised respond reasonably to provocation. This means get violent when, and only when necessary. So, yes. I would say we need a fairly coersive system for punishing child abuse. We also need a clear defination of what child abuse really is. BELIEVE the children!