Indigenous and Cultural Psychology

Abstract

I assume that most of the controversy about the topic of paternalism involves the question of whether and under what circumstances it is justified. An answer must address two preliminary matters: what paternalism is, and what would qualify as a justification for it. Since each of these background issues could consume an entire essay, I will attempt to say as little as possible about them in order to move directly to what I hope is more central. But these matters cannot be avoided altogether. I further assume that legal philosophers are less likely to be interested in paternalism per se than in paternalism in the domain of law. Thus I will concentrate on the special problems that arise in justifying legal paternalism. As we will see, these problems are formidable. Little of the progress that moral philosophers have achieved in justifying paternalism in personal relations is readily adaptable to legal contexts.