Paternalism interferes with a person's liberty or autonomy to promote the person's good or to protect him from self-harm. The aim of this book is to critically evaluate the conceptual and justificatory models related to paternalism in the context of moral philosophy. Analysis of selected legal cases complements the theoretical investigation.

This book explores and critically evaluates conceptual and justificatory models related to paternalism in the context of moral philosophy. Paternalistic interventions promoting someone's good or protecting the person from self-harming actions raise controversial questions from a legal and an ethical perspective. The tension between the benevolent character of paternalism and its interference with personal autonomy seems to hinder the development of a coherent theory that could specify the «proper» limits of protective state interventions. The theoretical investigation is complemented by selected cases from the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of Hungary.

Autorentext

Antal Szerletics is a Lecturer in Legal and Political Theory at the Faculty of Public Administration of the National University of Public Service, Budapest (Hungary).

Inhalt
Contents: Paternalism Moralism Self-harm Liberty-limiting principles Autonomy Voluntariness Definition of paternalism Consequentialism Virtue ethics Ethics of care Harm principle John Stuart Mill Joel Feinberg European Court of Human Rights Constitutional Court of Hungary.