The basic relationship between people should be one of care, and the caring life is the highest which humans can live. Unfortunately, care that is ill-considered can easily become an illegitimate intrusion on autonomy. Autonomy is a basic good, not to be abridged without good reason. It is not, on the other hand, the only good. Kultgen argues that it is sometimes necessary to intervene in the lives of others in order to protect them from harm or provide important benefits. Guidelines, therefore, must be established so that care is both respectful and balanced.
Some contemporary moralists categorically condemn paternalism, the forementioned intervention without consent. Kultgen examines weaknesses in these arguments and proposes new guidelines for paternalism, which he then names parentalism. As the term implies, Kultgen's reconception abandons the patriarchal connotations of the old term, relying instead on the optimal caring roles characteristic of "mothers" and "fathers." Kultgen distinguishes between the personal sphere of interaction (i.e., friends, family, and intimates), and the public sphere of institutions, legislation, and the professional practices, and goes on to explore the implication of parentalism in both these spheres. Though Kultgen agrees that paternalistic intervention is morally dangerous, he makes the case that it is equally dangerous to decline to intervene when another's welfare is in jeopardy.
Industry Reviews
"...the work is a useful contribution to an ongoing philosophical discussion of autonomy..."--Medical Humanities Review
"This is a valuable book for those concerned with an area that is rapidly becoming more urgent as clinicians have readier access to the advancing biomedical technologies that pateitns and families find harder to comprehend." --Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
"...this is a readable and well-researched book that should be of interest not only to moral philosophers, but to those in the caring professions who must wrestle with the complex ethical dilemmas that caring for presumptively competent yet needy individuals presents."--Ethics
"...valuable reading, especially for those interested in understanding the implications of various approaches for the relationship of parentalism and autonomy."--Journal of Ethics, Law, and Aging
Listed in New Titles in Bioethics
"...the work is a useful contribution to an ongoing philosophical discussion of autonomy..."--Medical Humanities Review
"This is a valuable book for those concerned with an area that is rapidly becoming more urgent as clinicians have readier access to the advancing biomedical technologies that pateitns and families find harder to comprehend." --Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
"...this is a readable and well-researched book that should be of interest not only to moral philosophers, but to those in the caring professions who must wrestle with the complex ethical dilemmas that caring for presumptively competent yet needy individuals presents."--Ethics
"...valuable reading, especially for those interested in understanding the implications of various approaches for the relationship of parentalism and autonomy."--Journal of Ethics, Law, and Aging
Listed in New Titles in Bioethics
