Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T10:28:30.327Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

PATERNALISMS AND NUDGES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2018

Danny Scoccia
Danny Scoccia*
Affiliation:
2734 S. Las Palmas St., Mesa Arizona 85202, USA. E-mail: dscoccia@nmsu.edu. URL: https://philos.nmsu.edu/faculty-and-staff/danny-scoccias-home-page/
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (T/S) have defended ‘nudges’ aimed at smoking, overeating, etc. as a ‘means’ paternalism that leaves its targets ‘better off as judged by themselves’. Their libertarian critics have charged that these behaviours are often perfectly rational and that the nudges would ‘impose’ on their targets ‘ends’ that they reject. This paper argues that whether or not the behaviours are rational is difficult to say, but the critics are right in claiming that T/S fail to take seriously their targets’ true preferences. This is evident, in particular, in Sunstein's recent reply to an ‘autonomy objection’ to nudging. The upshot is that the nudging paternalism T/S support cannot be defended as a means paternalism that is deferential to its targets’ own ends or values. The only way to defend it is via a ‘prudential’ paternalism that, given the preferences of many of its targets, will often be ‘ends’ paternalism.

Keywords

paternalismrationalityprudencenudgeautonomy
Type
Article
Information
Economics & Philosophy , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 79 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Becker, G. and Murphy, K. M.. 1988. A theory of rational addiction. Journal of Political Economy 96: 675–700.Google Scholar
Bovens, L. 2008. The ethics of nudge. In Preference Change: Approaches from Philosophy, Economics, and Psychology, ed. Grüne-Yanoff, T. and Hansson, S. O., 207–219. Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
Brink, D. 2003. Prudence and authenticity. Philosophical Review 112: 215–245.Google Scholar
Crampton, E. 2009. Public health and the new paternalism. Policy Magazine 25: 36–40.Google Scholar
Dworkin, G. 2017. Paternalism. In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Zalta, E. N.. <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2017/entries/paternalism/>>Google Scholar
Elster, J. 1999. Rationality and addiction. In Drugs and the Limits of Liberalism: Moral and Legal Issues, ed. De Graff, Pablo, 25–45. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Feinberg, J. 1986. Harm to Self. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gaus, G. 2003. Liberal neutrality: a compelling and radical principle. In Perfectionism and Neutrality: Essays in Liberal Theory, ed. Wall, S. and Kosko, G., 137–166. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Glod, W. 2015. How nudges often fail. Social Theory and Practice 41: 599–617.Google Scholar
Goldman, A. 1991. Epistemic paternalism: communication control in law and society. Journal of Philosophy 88: 113–131.Google Scholar
Griffin, J. 1986. Well Being. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Grune-Yanoff, T. 2012. Old wine in new casks: libertarian paternalism still violates liberal principles. Social Choice and Welfare 38: 635–645.Google Scholar
Hausman, D. 1992. The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hausman, D. 2012. Preference, Value, Choice, and Welfare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hausman, D. and Welch, B.. 2010. Debate: to nudge or not to nudge. Journal of Political Philosophy 18: 123–136.Google Scholar
Hill, T. Jr. 1973. Servility and self-respect. The Monist 57: 87–104.Google Scholar
Hodson, J. 1977. The principle of paternalism. American Philosophical Quarterly 14: 61–69.Google Scholar
Hume, D. 2007. A Treatise of Human Nature. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mitchell, G. 2004. Libertarian paternalism is an oxymoron. Northwestern University Law Review 99: 1245–1278.Google Scholar
Overvold, M. 1980. Self-interest and the concept of self-sacrifice. Canadian Journal of Philosophy 10: 105–118.Google Scholar
Parfit, D. 1984. Reasons and Persons. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rizzo, M. and Whitman, D.G. 2009. Little Brother is watching you: new paternalism on the slippery slopes. Arizona Law Review 51: 684–739.Google Scholar
Rogeberg, O. 2004. Taking absurd theories seriously: economics and the case of rational addiction theories. Philosophy of Science 71: 263–285.Google Scholar
Scoccia, D. 2008. In defense of hard paternalism. Law and Philosophy 27: 351–381.Google Scholar
Shapiro, D. 1994. Smoking tobacco: irrationality, addiction, and paternalism. Public Affairs Quarterly 8: 187–203.Google Scholar
Shiffrin, S. 2000. Paternalism, unconscionability doctrine, and accommodation. Philosophy and Public Affairs 29: 205–251.Google Scholar
Sugden, R. 2008. Why incoherent preferences do not justify paternalism. Constitutional Political Economy 19: 226–248.Google Scholar
Sumner, L. W. 1996. Welfare, Happiness, and Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sunstein, C. 2014. Why Nudge? The Politics of Libertarian Paternalism. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Thaler, R. and Sunstein, C.. 2003. Libertarian paternalism is not an oxymoron. University of Chicago Law Review 70: 1159–1201.Google Scholar
Thaler, R. and Sunstein, C.. 2008. Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness. New York, NY: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Vandeveer, D. 1986. Paternalistic Intervention: The Moral Bounds of Beneficence. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar