Introduction to _Consenting Children_

The purpose of the introduction to Consenting Children is to acquaint readers with the themes explored in the volume, to provide readers with a summary of the chapters comprising it, and to situate its contributions. Our ambition is for the volume’s contributions to lay the groundwork for future engagement in the legal and philosophical literature with the controversies raised by arguments about children’s autonomy, responsibility, and well-being, and the myriad interactions between them. We anticipate that the chapters in this volume will serve as an indispensable critical reference for scholars working in the broad range of disciplines dealing with the treatment of children. We hope, further, that the volume demonstrates the potential of the study of children to generate insights into thinking about consent, autonomy, responsibility, and well-being more broadly.