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Paternalism

Stance that a person's liberty is justifiably restricted to prevent self-harm, or to promote that person's own well-being. Paternalism is an inherently liberty-limiting principle. It is grounded in a theory of impairment, viz. , that an individual lacks sufficient facts or mental capacity to make a sound choice. It is sometimes defended by a theory of future consent: viz. , that the person whose liberty is circumscribed will (or, at least in principle, could) eventually agree that the restriction was desirable, given better facts or improved cognitive capacity in future.

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  • Category: Ethics
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