ipl-logo

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Libertarian Paternalism

722 Words3 Pages

Many economists, such as Mitchell, G., understand libertarian paternalism to be an oxymoron. Thaler and Sunstein however, do not agree with this. Thaler and Sunstein (2003) defined libertarian paternalism as “the idea that it is both possible and legitimate for private and public institutions to affect behaviour while also respecting freedom of choice, as well as the implementation of that idea”. Libertarian paternalism is paternalism in the way that it tries to guide people, and it is libertarian in the way that no choices are taken away from the people themselves (Gigerenzer, 2015). Nonetheless, libertarian paternalism should not be confused with nudging. The goal of nudging is to “alter people’s behaviour in a predictable way” (Thaler & …show more content…

The question arises as to what extent you would choose nudging over educating people. Gigerenzer’s view on libertarian paternalism is very different than Thaler’s and Sunstein’s. He thinks it misleadingly suggests that educating people is hopeless, and that therefore institutions nudge individuals in order to take advantage of this. Taking advantage of individuals that are not aware of what is happening, and are taking decisions without knowing all the information available is not ethical and it shouldn’t be in the institution’s best interest, but in the individual’s best interest. Furthermore, it is a danger that nudging may become an excuse for not protecting consumers (Gigerenzer, 2015). If the institutions use nudging only for their interest, the individuals may be making decisions they are not aware of, which might harm their health or wealth. Gigerenzer stated that nudging is used to educate people, so if institutions use nudging for different reasons than educating, nudging means infantilizing the public (Gigerenzer, …show more content…

There are many different opinions about this concept. Thaler and Sunstein thought that people do not always make rational decisions and suffer from inertia, and therefore need institutions to nudge them to make decisions which will benefit them. Whereas Gigerenzer thought that people in fact can be rational thinkers and have their own individual minds. He suggests nudging is something that has been happening for a while by governments and institutions, and it provides information to the people so they can make their own decisions consciously with a little help from the nudges. However, he thinks institutions would take this a step further and abuse this and take advantage of nudging, and choosing this rather than educating the individuals so they can make their own

Show More
Related

  • Pros And Cons Of Closed Border Libertarianism

    1473 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Paris terrorist attacks have caused a rift in the libertarian community. To the surprise of many, some libertarians advocate for a closed border policy. I was in shock too when I first heard of this position considering that libertarianism is about natural rights, and what more basic right is there than movement? This debate is extremely complicated, and it is unfortunate many fail to see this the complications. Ask any run-of-the-mill libertarian on the street about the debate and they will claim there are two sides: the open border libertarians, i.e. the true and consistent libertarians, and the closed border libertarians, i.e. reactionaries who either use utilitarianism or are changing up libertarian principles to make them fit what

    Read More

  • How Did The Allies Use Propaganda

    1977 Words  | 8 Pages

    It can be said that it is the fastest and most effective way to persuade people into doing a certain action or

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative: Myself With The Republican Party

    1616 Words  | 7 Pages

    That also means that it will cut back a lot of government responsibilities. “We believe that government’s only responsibility, if any, should be protecting people from force and fraud.” as stated from the Libertarian Party website. Which leaves the American people free to do essentially anything. It is a very big advocation on its own to have several government funded projects to become privatized, which is something also shared by the Republican party as well.

    Read More

  • Libertarianism Vs Utilitarian Government

    1267 Words  | 6 Pages

    Libertarians believe that each person owns his own life and property and has the right to make his own choices as to how he lives his life and uses his property – as long as he simply respects the equal right of others to do the same.” (theadvocates.org). Libertarians believe in three policies, no paternalism, no morals legislation, and no redistribution of income or wealth (Sandel,59). No paternalism, is against the laws that protect individuals from harm, so essentially it’s saying that if an individual decides to partake in reckless behavior and no one but the individual performing the risky behavior is harmed or affected, there should be no laws preventing the individual from performing that behavior (for example, not wearing a seatbelt). No

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Gov Ernment

    1505 Words  | 7 Pages

    According to President Ronald Reagan, the 40th U.S. President (1981-1989), the gov-ernment should be highly accountable to its citizens, particularly when it comes to the spending of tax dollars. Reagan clearly expresses a critical perspective towards the role of the United States government in that excessive spending has been a significant problem. Reagan upholds a perspective of a classical liberalist in the way he criticizes the nature of the welfare state – one that is flawed when citizens lack incentive to work hard in achieving self-sufficiency and rely heavily on government support. That is, Reagan openly states a concern regarding fiscal and monetary policies where the government is spending possibly more than

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Welfare Reform

    1041 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Welfare Reform is a program that was set up to aid and provide public assistance (Opposing Viewpoints). This type of assistance aids families who are in need of funds due to no income or very little income. Over the next years, the Welfare Reform Act has been slightly changed. Some changes have been an improvement to the program, while other changes did not make an impact on the individuals who receive this form of assistance. Critics of the welfare program have insisted the programs hinders people who receive this form of support.

    Read More

  • Elaboration Likelihood Model Of Persuasion Essay

    817 Words  | 4 Pages

    The theory has split persuasion in two ways: the central route and the peripheral route. The central route implies a high content elaboration and persuasion that will most likely lead to a permanent change in attitude; thus, leading to decision-making.

    Read More

  • Henrietta Lacks: The Definition Of Utilitarianism

    1386 Words  | 6 Pages

    The definition of Utilitarianism is “the ethical principle that virtue is based on utility, and that conduct should be directed toward promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people.” A Utilitarian would say that taking Henrietta Lacks’ cells without her permission or knowledge would be acceptable because it has helped with so many things. Libertarianism is defined as “an extreme laissez-faire political philosophy advocating only minimal state intervention in the lives of citizens.”

    Read More

  • Social Judgement Theory: The Art Of Persuasion

    805 Words  | 4 Pages

    These days with social media, and other rising technological advances, one might find it impossible to resist the urge to want to protest and debate with all the issues going on in the world today. It sounds easy enough to post your side of an argument on anything someone shares but going about it affectively to really get the opposing side to agree with you is something else entirely. By using the Social Judgment Theory, and understanding one’s ego involvement with an issue, people might just be able to figure out the “Art of Persuasion”. Social Judgement Theory is a “Self-persuasion theory proposed by Carolyn Sherif, Muzafer Sherif, and Carl Hovland” (Daniel O’ Keefe, 2016). It is defined as “The perception and evaluation of an idea by comparing

    Read More

  • Effects Of Consumerism On Poverty

    1361 Words  | 6 Pages

    According to Varul (2008) the notion of ‘ethical consumerism’ seems to be a contradiction in terms, since market and morality are commonly viewed as stark opposites with morality being sought in the contestation of certain goods’ commodity status and in the blocking of certain exchanges. What is new in the phenomenon of market society, a phenomenon that has been observed over the last 30 years, is the emergence of consumption as a criterion for the quality of life and as a sign of the demand for it. Moreover, society has become in our time a society that governs and evaluates its members, including the ability to consume. Without legislation regulating the market, people’s choices will be

    Read More

  • Protectionism Essay

    2919 Words  | 12 Pages

    IF a common man is questioned “can protectionism ever be justified” he’d probably say NO, we live in a world of globalisation and there won’t be many who agree with the term protectionism is today’s day, its mostly considered as an “economic bad” . You will easily find governments who say ‘I am in favor of globalisation’ but rarely will u ever find a nation which says “we are for protectionism” and that’s probably the most basic difference between the two. Let’s start with understanding protectionism before we debate if it’s even justifiable or not? Protectionism may be defined as (Block, and McGee, 1997) ‘Any policy intended to shield domestic industries from import competition’ Protectionism is merely an attempt by a countries government

    Read More

  • Utilitarianism In Nursing Ethics

    1374 Words  | 6 Pages

    Utilitarianism and Deontology are two major ethical theories that influence nursing practice. Utilitarian principles of promoting the greatest good for the greatest amount of people parallels the nursing tenet of beneficence. Deontological principles of treating individuals with dignity, and promoting the well-being of the individual parallels the nursing tenet of non-maleficence. Utilitarian and Deontological principles can be utilized to resolve ethical dilemmas that arise in the nursing profession. The purpose of this paper is to define utilitarianism and deontology, discuss the similarities and differences between the two, and to address an ethical dilemma utilizing utilitarian and deontological principles.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Utilitarianism And Libertarianism

    214 Words  | 1 Pages

    Libertarianism is a political philosophy that said that the state should interfere as little as possible with people. Utilitarians, differ from Libertarianism, because are primarily concerned with the advocating for human provision of a minimal level of well being and social support for legal resident and citizens. They maintained that society ought to be systematically arranged in whatever way that would best reached this end potentially defend the vase and achieve greater social equality for the needy. Utilitarians think that the right thing to do is whatever produces the greatest amount of happiness.

    Read More

  • Disadvantages Of Persuasion

    980 Words  | 4 Pages

    1.0 Introduction According to BusinessDictionary (2017), persuasion is defined as a process aimed at changing attitude or behavior of a person or a group toward some event, idea, object, or another person(s). The information, feelings, or reasoning, or all of them is conveyed by using written or spoken words (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/persuasion.html). Through the conveyance of a message, the communicators try to persuade listeners to change their mindsets or behavior regarding an issue, in an atmosphere of free choice (Perloff, 2003). This means that persuasion involves audiences and they have free choice.

    Read More

  • Advantages And Disadvantages Of Government Intervention

    1195 Words  | 5 Pages

    1) Government may intervene in a market in order to try and restore economic efficiency. One of the ways the government intervention can help overcome market failure is through the introduction of a price floors and price ceilings. If prices are seen to be too high, price ceiling or a maximum price could be imposed on a market in order to moderate the price of the product. This policy is often used when there are concerns that consumers cannot afford an essential product, such as groceries. The effect of a maximum price could create a shortage as it could lead to demand exceeding supply for that particular good.

    Read More

More about Advantages And Disadvantages Of Libertarian Paternalism

Open Document