Abstract
Paternalism is a recurrent theme in applied ethics because of the enduring tensions that make themselves felt between the principles of autonomy and beneficence in areas of societal concern such as public health, consumer protection and education. Though education is not inherently paternalistic, paternalistic acts are typical in education, especially of young children. The paper explores how far paternalism should be allowed in the context of education and by what other considerations it is limited. It identifies the time dimension as the key variable which distinguishes paternalistic interventions in education from other types of paternalism and provides a prima facie legitimation for thwarting the present interests of children for the protection and furtherance of their future interests. A number of rules (“tendency rules”) are formulated that may be of help in cases in which the principles of self-determination and best interest conflict.
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Birnbacher, D. (2015). Paternalism in Education and the Future. In: Bagattini, A., Macleod, C. (eds) The Nature of Children's Well-Being. Children’s Well-Being: Indicators and Research, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9252-3_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9252-3_7
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