liberty and paternalism

A detailed Summary of liberty and paternalism

John Stuart Mill and Gerald Dworkin have distinctly opposing views on legal paternalism in that Mill is adamantly against any form of paternalism, whereas Dworkin believes that there do exist circumstances in which paternalism is justified. Both agree that paternalism is justified when the well being of another person is violated or put at risk. Mill takes on a utilitarian argument, explaining that allowing an individual to exercise his freedom of free choice is more beneficial to society than deciding for him what is in his best interests. Dworkin, on the other hand, feels that certain cases require the intervention of either society as a whole or its individual members. He breaks Mill's argument down into two distinct types, one based on utilitarianism and one based on the absolute value of free choice.

After reading both articles, "Paternalism" by Dworkin and "On Liberty" by Mill, I believe that Dworkin is correct in explaining that some intervention is necessary under certain circumstances. I have come to this conclusion based on the fact that there do exist circumstances in which an individual is incapable of making a rational decision considering not only the well being of himself, but also the

The final example that I will apply my conclusion to is that of gambling. The reason I believe

Another real life example that this idea of justified paternalism can be applied to is the use of cigarettes. In this case, the government interferes with the free choice of the decision of whether or not to smoke in the lives of citizens under the age of eighteen. This interference is justified in that people under the age of eighteen are not assumed to possess the rationality to consider all the consequences of smoking. The obvious contradiction lies in the question of why the, the government does not interfere in the decision of adults. This contradiction is derived from the comparison of smoking to wearing a seat belt. One may ask why it is legal to smoke but illegal to not wear your seat belt when they both render life threatening consequences. However, the explanation is based on the idea of what one gets out of smoking in comparison to what one gets out of not wearing a seat belt. A person may smoke for many different reasons, the most common being to relieve stress and encourage relaxation. The most common reason for a person not wearing a seat belt is because it is inconvenient. There is no gain in not wearing a seat belt. If a person were to smoke because it was inconvenient to not smoke, the same irrationality would be assigned to this person as is a person who does not wear a seat belt because it is inconvenient. In the seat belt case there is no value to not wearing a seat belt, that is where the irrationality lies. In this case, the choice is essentially made for the individual because in reality there is no real choice, just a misunderstanding. The individual does not understand that only bad can come from not wearing a seat belt. There is nothing to be gained, therefore, nothing is truly restricted from this person. In the smoking case, irrationality is waived because this individual is comparing two things that he values; smoking and his health. When it is understood that there are two meaningful values being considered, the government leaves the choice to the individual. Then, and only then, can he decide for himself on what he places a higher value.

that gambling should be legal is similar to the reason for which I believe smoking is rightfully legal. In each case, the government should not interfere because the individual has a right to make an independent decision when he has something to gain without incurring injury to others.

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Approximate Word count = 1662
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics