I Almost Became A Political Journalist, Having

Parental Love Is Not Contingent On The Talents And Attributes The Child Happens To Have. We Choose Our Friends And Spouses At Least Partly On The Basis Of Qualities We Find Attractive. But We Do Not Choose Our Children. Their Qualities Are Unpredictable, And Even The Most Conscientious Parents Cannot Be Held Wholly Responsible For The Kind Of Child They Have. That Is Why Parenthood, More Than Other Human Relationships, Teaches What The Theologian William F. May Calls An “openness To The Unbidden.

I Think Too Often In Our Society Parents, Who May Have Good Impulses, Overreach And Try To Mold And Shape And Direct Their Child.

I Almost Became A Political Journalist, Having Worked As A Reporter At The Time Of Watergate. The Proximity To Those Events Motivated Me, When I Wound Up Doing Philosophy, To Try To Use It To Move The Public Debate.

They Say The State Should Not Impose On Its Citizens A Preferred Way Of Life, But Should Leave Them As Free As Possible To Choose Their Own Values And Ends, Consistent With A Similar Liberty For Others.

There Are Some Religious Traditions That View Human Beings As Participants In Creation. This Is True Of The Jewish Tradition, From Which I Come.