As much as strong medical paternalism should never be exercised, some weak paternalism towards patients is, on the contrary, part of physicians' and society's moral obligation. So far, this is a widely consented position in medical ethics. What then are the defining and the justifying conditions for legitimate weak paternalism in psychiatry? In this presentation it is argued in favor of three n...

In recent years the concepts of ‘nudge’ and ‘libertarian paternalism’ have become popular theoretical as well as practical concepts inside as well as outside academia. But in spite of the widespread interest, confusion reigns as to what exactly is to be regarded as a nudge and how the underlying approach to behaviour change relates to libertarian paternalism. This article sets out to improve th...

'Nudging--and the underlying idea 'libertarian paternalism'--to an increasing degree influences policy thinking in the healthcare sector. This article discusses the influence exerted upon a woman's choice of participation in the Danish breast screening programme in light of 'libertarian paternalism'. The basic tenet of 'libertarian paternalism' is outlined and the relationship between 'libertar...

nudges are small, often imperceptible changes to how particular decisions present themselves to individuals that are meant to influence those decisions. in his editorial, ‘nudging by shaming, shaming by nudging’, eyal highlights links between nudges and feelings of shame on the part of the ‘chooser’. in this commentary, i suggest two further distinctions between different types of shame-based n...

A common objection to paternalism concerns its expressive content. Many reject paternalistic policies and actions on the ground that they arguably involve insulting expressions of disrespect toward those subjected them. The paper challenges this view. It argues refraining from acting paternalistically can be disrespectful. Specifically, there is a relevant way in which disregards moral worth B ...