Relational Autonomy, Paternalism, and Maternalism

The concept of paternalism is intricately tied to the concept of autonomy. It is commonly assumed that when paternalistic interventions are wrong, they are wrong because they impede individuals' autonomy. Our aim in this paper is to show that the recent shift towards conceiving of autonomy rela...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ethical theory and moral practice
Authors: Specker Sullivan, Laura (Author) ; Niker, Fay 1987- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V [2018]
In: Ethical theory and moral practice
RelBib Classification:NBE Anthropology
NCH Medical ethics
VA Philosophy
Further subjects:B Paternalism
B relational autonomy
B Care Ethics
B Autonomy
B Maternalism
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:The concept of paternalism is intricately tied to the concept of autonomy. It is commonly assumed that when paternalistic interventions are wrong, they are wrong because they impede individuals' autonomy. Our aim in this paper is to show that the recent shift towards conceiving of autonomy relationally highlights a separate conceptual space for a nonpaternalistic kind of interpersonal intervention termed maternalism. We argue that maternalism makes a twofold contribution to the debate over the ethics of interpersonal action and decision-making. Descriptively, it captures common experiences that, while not unusual in everyday life, are largely absent from the present discussion. Normatively, it describes a type of intervention with justification conditions distinct from the standard framework of paternalism. We explicate these contributions by describing six key differences between maternalism and paternalism, and conclude by anticipating and responding to potential objections.
ISSN:1572-8447
Contains:Enthalten in: Ethical theory and moral practice
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10677-018-9900-z