Abstract

Siblings ought to treat one another specially – in other words, siblings qua siblings ought to treat one another in ways that they need not treat others. This paper offers a theory of why this is the case. The paper begins with some intuitive judgments about how siblings ought to treat one another and some other normative features of siblinghood. I then review three potential theories of why siblings ought to treat one another specially, adapted from the literature on filial piety: the gratitude theory, the friendship theory, and the special goods theory. In each case, these theories fail to explain some of the intuitive judgments about how siblings ought to treat one another. The paper then proposes a familial belonging theory. The institution of the family has certain goals, which impose normative demands on family members. I suggest that one such family goal is that every member feel familial belonging towards every other member, a goal which grounds the ways in which siblings ought to treat one another specially.
 Keywords: family ethics, filial piety, friendship, gratitude, sibling

Highlights

  • Siblings ought to treat one another specially – siblings qua siblings ought to treat one another in ways that they need not treat others

  • This paper aims to give a theory of why siblings ought to treat one another specially

  • The friendship theory of filial piety is that “friends are motivated by love” (English 1979: 353) to seek one another’s well-being and that the relationship between child and parent is friendship (English 1979), or a sui generis form of friendship (Dixon 1995: 80–82), children ought to seek the well-being of their parents

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Summary

Marcus William Hunt

The paper begins with some intuitive judgments about how siblings ought to treat one another and some other normative features of siblinghood. I review three potential theories of why siblings ought to treat one another specially, adapted from the literature on filial piety: the gratitude theory, the friendship theory, and the special goods theory. In each case, these theories fail to explain some of the intuitive judgments about how siblings ought to treat one another. I suggest that one such family goal is that every member feel familial belonging towards every other member, a goal which grounds the ways in which siblings ought to treat one another specially

Introduction
The intuitive data
The gratitude theory
The friendship theory
The special goods theory
The familial belonging theory
Familial belonging is a goal of the family
Typical practices of parents to cultivate familial belonging
The goal of familial belonging and special treatment between siblings
Full Text
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