paternalism interference with the liberty or autonomy of another person, with justifications referring to the promotion of the person’s good or the prevention of harm to the person. More precisely, P acts paternalistically toward Q if and only if (a) P acts with the intent of averting some harm or promoting some benefit for Q; (b) P acts contrary to (or is indifferent to) the current preferences, desires or values of Q; and (c) P’s act is a limitation on Q’s autonomy or liberty. The presence of both autonomy and liberty in clause (c) is to allow for the fact that lying to someone is not clearly an interference with liberty. Notice that one can act paternalistically by telling people the truth (as when a doctor insists that a patient know the exact nature of her illness, contrary to her wishes). Note also that the definition does not settle any questions about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of paternalistic interventions. Typical examples of paternalistic actions are (1) laws requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets; (2) court orders allowing physicians to transfuse Jehovah’s Witnesses against their wishes; (3) deception of a patient by physicians to avoid upsetting the patient; (4) civil commitment of persons judged dangerous to themselves; and (5) laws forbidding swimming while lifeguards are not on duty. Soft (weak) paternalism is the view that paternalism is justified only when a person is acting non-voluntarily or one needs time to determine whether the person is acting voluntarily or not. Hard (strong) paternalism is the view that paternalism is sometimes justified even when the person being interfered with is acting voluntarily. The analysis of the term is relative to some set of problems. If one were interested in the organizational behavior of large corporations, one might adopt a different definition than if one were concerned with limits on the state’s right to exercise coercion. The typical normative problems about paternalistic actions are whether, and to what extent, the welfare of individuals may outweigh the need to respect their desire to lead their own lives and make their own decisions (even when mistaken). J. S. Mill is the best example of a virtually absolute antipaternalism, at least with respect to the right of the state to act paternalistically. He argued that unless we have reason to believe that a person is not acting voluntarily, as in the case of a man walking across a bridge that, unknown to him, is about to collapse, we ought to allow adults the freedom to act even if their acts are harmful to themselves.
See also FREE WILL PROBLEM; MILL, J. S.; POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY ; POSITIVE AND NEGA – TIVE FREEDOM ; RIGHT. G.D.