Parenthood: A Study of Lived Experience

Despite its importance, contemporary philosophical research on parenthood remains a comparatively overlooked topic. This oversight is surprising not only because of the transformative significance of parenthood, but also because of its philosophical richness. In addition to its inherent importance, parenthood also sheds light on conceptual issues concerning the structure of personal identity, the relationship between embodiment and affectivity, and the question of how parenthood and well-being are related. The aim of the project is to investigate parenthood using a phenomenological methodology, which is attentive to how the first-person experience of being a parent is shaped and determined by historical, cultural, and societal factors. A first-person perspective on parenthood is critical for clarifying issues such as what it means to become a parent, what role the body plays in parental experience, and what role affective states play in the parent-child relationship. To date, phenomenology has tended to neglect parenthood. The project responds to this lacuna by positing three objectives. i. To establish a phenomenologically sophisticated account of parenthood through schematizing the relational, embodied, and affective structures of parenthood. ii.To clarify to what extent the lived experience of parenthood is constituted by historical, societal, and cultural aspects. ii. To demonstrate that a proper understanding of parenthood can shed light on key philosophical issues such as personal identity, the nature of the social world, and the question of what constitutes well-being. The project employs a phenomenological methodology, which is attentive to research in critical phenomenology. The motivation for developing this methodology stems from the need to (i) advance the understanding of parenthood through conducting a first-person study of the phenomena, and, (ii) interrogate the conceptual roots underpinning the idea of parenthood. The project breaks ground in the following respects: i. Advances state-of-the-art research on parenthood by approaching the topic from a phenomenological perspective. In doing so, the project establishes a framework that accounts for how parenthood is at once a perceptual, embodied, and affective phenomenon, as well as a social one. ii. Problematises the idea of parent-child relations as being reducible to biological or legal categories by developing an approach that investigates themes such as ambiguity, intercorporeality, and kinship. iii.Generates an innovative analysis of what parenthood actually is by researching a series of overlooked themes, including: the intentional structure of parenthood, the role embodiment plays in parental styles, and the relationship between affectivity and well-being.