Rice PHIL 307 - Consequentialist Arguments For Paternalism

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• There is connectedness between individuals according to liberal paternalismConsequentialist Arguments For PaternalismThe Argument from the Instrumentality of Freedom• One version of the Argument from Paternalistic Disease is that there is some ultimate value that is likely to be realized fully if an individual is permitted to ordertheir own lives as they please• Maximum plausibility is given to the position if the ultimate end goal is some "mental state" such as happiness, the satisfaction of desires, etc. for whoknows the interests desired to fulfill this state more than an individual• People are often poor judges of their own well-being• Some reasons stem from a lack of motivation• Some stem from defects in knowledge• Rolf Sartorius makes a case for a paternalistic state, but only if it reflects an individual's preferences.• We can differentiate between stable preferences and choice behavior• We can identify between objective interests essential to the execution of preferences, whatever those preferences may be• Another reply to the consequentialist argument for paternalism questions the assumption that freedom is an instrumental value• It may be claimed that freedom of itself is a source of joy and not just a good mean to achieve joy• Therefore paternalistic interference may frustrate our joy in the freedom of choice• Consequentialists may argue back that loss of the satisfaction of choice may be counterbalanced by other satisfactions gained through paternalisticintervention.• We can look to Joel Feinberg's consequentialist argument and his discussion of liberty as an interest• Three levels of interest arise1. Welfare interest in freedom - an interest in the level of liberty necessary to sustain personal life. Unless we are permitted freedom to express ourselveswe cannot genuinely express ourselves at all• It may be possible to make a case that if paternalistic intervention were more focused on preventing only those choices that would destroy ourcapacity to make rational choices it may preserve our welfare.2. Security interest - We will want the freedom to respond productively to contingencies and new development in a person such as goal changes, personalevolution, discover of self and new talents, etc.• This may be a sacrifice-able interest to a certain degree3. Accumulative interest - Interest in freedom for the joy and sake of freedom• There is still the issue of paternalism undermining individuality• In Kantian mode, paternalism denies the right of a person as a free moral agent and source of reason for action to whom respect is due• Adults treated paternalistically may feel a lack of respect as to their autonomy as being able to exercise their own choice in a rational wayThe Argument from Personal Integrity• Conception of human nature that informs liberal theory• Within broad limits, we differ from each other in our capacities and our capacity for development of our capacities• Even for an individual there is no one development path• Most individuals possess more capacities than they can develop and thus development is one of experimentation, accommodation, adaptation andevaluation• We acquire our personality and identity through learning• In our early years we often lack the building blocks that allow for self-sufficiency and self-learning• The end result of building ourselves is a product of the numbers and kinds of skills available to us, how we choose to develop ourselves, and theenvironment in which we are allowed to build ourselves in• Our lives do not always exhibit maturity of our faculties and may often be fraught with mistakes, carelessness, short-sightedness, unreflectiveness,foolishness• People can make devastating mistakes thus it is where paternalism comes in to help preserve an individuals integrity that this argument gains it'sweight.• There are many things that inform our behavior from our passing whims, desires, projects, central and peripheral concerns, valued habits and dispositions• Our conduct and choices may be influenced by all of these factors although possibly not in hierarchical order of our values and concerns• So long as the interests of the paternalist are based on those of the individual, it does not make the individual subservient• If it is argued that paternalistic intervention will thwart at least one of a person's other projects or actions• The counterclaim is that it would paternalistically help resolve a tension in the individual between choosing the best option for their life.• This paternalism is thus non-invasive to the moral values of the individual agent but rather focuses on maximizing the integrity of a person by providingan outside check and balance• Although it may be good for an individual to bear failure and be able to use it in the completion of his project, it may be that the consequences of failure are sosevere that something stronger than persuasion is called for• There is cost involved in strong paternalism in that the paternalist takes a big moral risk and the demand for justification is usually really strong• Anti-paternalist may assert that an individual may still feel ousted by paternalistic intervention• May respond with "Who do you you think you are to put your authority over my own?"• It is not to voluntary choices that liberalism is committed but rather choices that allow an individual to express their integrity and individuality• In the condition that it is a individual's greatest value to maximize their liberty, then any paternalistic intervention may be seen as an


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Rice PHIL 307 - Consequentialist Arguments For Paternalism

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