Can Paternalism be Inevitable?
If we can treat any person paternalistically, can this paternalism ever be unavoidable or inevitable? Most people do not take pleasure in being paternalistic, but at times we feel obliged to do so. Why? And who is it permissible to be paternalistic towards? One line of reasoning might consider the “degree of autonomy” suggested by Dworkin. Perhaps we will be inevitably paternalistic only towards people who aren’t autonomous (that is, who fall below the “significant threshold”). Or perhaps we will be inevitably paternalistic only towards people below some lower threshold. I don’t believe either is the case, because it is possible to imagine examples of inevitable paternalism between autonomous persons. One example has been given by Dworkin (1988:107): a husband who hides his sleeping pills because he fears his wife’s suicidal tendencies is being paternalistic—he is denying her the autonomous right to decide whether or not to keep living. A second example is that of a wife pressuring her
