On legal age change

Abstract

Joona Räsänen argues some people have a right to change their legal age to prevent age discrimination. He proposes two prerequisites—the person feels his age differs from his legal age, and that person’s biological age differs from his chronological age. I argue we can achieve the same protections from ageism through restricting access to one’s birth date. I review several moral reasons in favour of changing one’s legal age, concluding the enterprise is folly.