Ethical Issues Life Choices Notes for Exam 2 Paternalism and Liberty Paternalism What is paternalism A policy or practice of treating or governing people in a fatherly manner especially by providing for their needs without giving them rights or responsibilities Paternalistic Laws Laws that restrict a person s freedom for his her own good Promote morals health safety economic well being Promoting Morality Sexual behavior Divorce Adultery Polygamy Pornography Promoting Health and Safety drug use helmet use seat belts vaccinations suicide self mutilation building codes jaywalking voluntary euthanasia professional licensing hazing Promoting Economic Welfare minimum wage working hours working conditions gambling social security unemployment insurance medicare Justifications for paternalism Mill can admit 3 justifications for paternalistic laws based on conditions of agency coercion do you have a choice incompetence are you able to choose ignorance do you know enough to choose Conservative justifications for paternalism Character Plato Aristotle good society requires virtuous people requires formation of good habits requires paternalistic laws to guide people laws not just for adults to mold children into responsible adults Tradeoffs Burke Pluralism liberty is one value among others social order happiness prosperity morality religion strength civility peace dignity Sometimes other values take precedence over liberty Tradition Burke Tradition is the product of reasoned choices Tradition is best guide to making choices that conform to our nature REspect for tradition engenders virtues dignity gravity humility caution needed for making choices Liberal Justifications for Paternalism Justice exploitation coercion do you have a choice incompetence are you able to choose ignorance do you know enough to choose concern are you being used Risk It s too dangerous We should allow people to run reasonable risks Some risks are unreasonable harm too great probability of harm too great potential gain too small People are often unable to evaluate reasonableness themselves Support insurance against weakness of will Weakness of Will knowing the better and doing the worse doing what you don t want to want to do Lower order desire i want X Higher order desire I don t want to want X Liberty consists in following higher order desire sleep cycle app Freedom What do we mean by freedom Negative Freedom freedom is a lack of external obstacles freedom of speech Positive Freedom freedom is a lack of internal obstacles the ability to act in accordance with one s rational or autonomous desires Under what circumstances may power be legitimately exercised by society over individuals When is it permissible for states to interfere in the actions of the citizens Mill On Liberty Mill s Harm Principle The only purpose for which power can be rightly exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will is to prevent harm to others Harm and the Sphere of Liberty Which action are protected by the harm principle Self regarding actions Other regarding actions Objections The notion of harm is vague Mill allows that private immorality can harm society Co operative systems give other people the right to insist on good behavior Liberty and Rights Benefits Benefits of liberty Drug Legalization benefits from drug use benefits from experiments in living limiting choices harms everyone by limiting information Liberty Drug users are agents Free Voluntary Informed They don t threaten rights of others Can we legitimately restrict their actions Critique of Government Action You care most about your own good You know most about your own good Costs Costs Estimated Lost tax revenue 10 billion year Increased Harms Enforcement is ineffective Increased harms from drugs courts case loads costs delays police 20 billion year prisons 10 billion year half the prison population there for drug related offenses Switches to stronger more easily concealed drugs with higher profit margins no controls on quality strength and contamination no information about reasonable use Rates of ImprIsonment US has highest of any other nation Georgia Texas Florida California have huge numbers Arguments for Drug Laws Reasons why we should not legalize drugs they should stay criminal Harms to Users Drug laws succeed in discouraging use Legalization would increase harms to users more use including underage use more addiction more illnesses overdoses deaths less recovery treatment succeeds only when compulsory Harm to Others Associates of users family friends co workers customers unborn Victims of users victims of accidents violence crime Everyone else increased health care insurance costs lost productivity Wilson Against Legalization Two principles behind Friedman s argument ethical principle governments have no right to tell people not to use heroin or other Economic principle the criminalization of drugs imposes costs on society that far exceed The risk of legalization is not that bad Nadelmann argues that we only have to worry about 3 of people becoming binge users Why 20 million people between 18 and 25 reported trying cocaine but only 250 000 use it drugs the benefits daily So at most 3 of people who try cocaine will develop a problem with it An error in Nadelmann s argument Wilson claims that Nadelmann s argument rests on a logical fallacy and a factual error 1 The fallacy is that the number of occasional users who become binge users will remain 2 The factual error is that Nadelmann s statistics were gathered before the use of crack the same cocaine became widespread Should the government restrict access to ban pornography Mill would say Would not be in favor of a ban on pornography He d be fine with restrictions Pornography The Problem of Porn Liberty Harm Principle Aristotle What is porn Some attempted definitions I know it when I see it Justice Stewart Verbal or pictorial material which represents or describes sexual behavior that is degrading to one or more of the participants in such a way as to endorse the degradation Helen Longino 1980 Porn vs Erotica PORN greek roots porno and graphs no sense of equal power and choice message is one of violence dominance and conquest underlying themes of power and sex as a weapon EROTICA greek root eros characterized by sensuality and share pleasure message is one of mutually pleasurable sexual expression between people who have enough power to be there by choice Morality and Disgust The chicken story is the
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