Law, Ethics and Justice Seminar by Adam Lovett (Durham University)

Title: Are Age Thresholds Justified?

Abstract: Across the world, one’s age determines what one is legally permitted to do. It determines whether one can vote, buy alcohol, decide where to live. The standard justification for such age thresholds is that, on average, children are less cognitively developed than adults. This lack of cognitive development, the thought goes, means that children lack some of the rights adults have. In this paper, I argue that this standard justification is untenable. It involves relying on purely statistical evidence to infringe someone’s rights. But, so I argue, we may not infringe people’s rights on the basis of purely statistical evidence. I thus propose an alternative to our current scheme of age thresholds. Everyone above a certain age should automatically receive full adult rights while those below it should be able to get such rights by passing a capacity test.

Adam Lovett is an assistant professor at Durham University. He works primarily on democratic theory and normative ethics. He is currently working on two projects, "How should our democracies be set up?" and "What is the general nature of our normative reasons?"

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