Why It's OK to Make Bad Choices

William Glod

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780367195168
• eBook ISBN: 9781000062625
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Ingegneria finanziaria
• Index: Business

If we are kind people, we care about others, including others who tend to hurt themselves. We all have friends or family members who have potential but squander or even ruin their lives from things like drug abuse, unwise spending decisions, or poor dietary habits.

Concern for others often motivates us to endorse laws or private interventions meant to keep people from harming themselves even if that's what they want to do in the moment. However, it is far from clear that such paternalistic measures are, on net, benign, and they tend to violate an understanding that we should let adults make their own decisions.

In this little book, William Glod argues that it's OK to allow people to make bad choices. It's OK even if those choices risk causing a lot of harm. Most defenders of paternalism agree that some bad choices are not harmful enough to require laws to stop them. However, Glod goes further. He argues that some people might want – and deserve – the freedom to make truly bad choices because such freedom is the only way they can act responsibly. He also argues that some "bad" choices may not even be bad, even if we can't know with confidence a person's true desires. In addition, the book explores choices that are bad because they might impose high monetary costs on others, arguing that mandatory insurance may be a better solution than eliminating the choice. Finally, it explores the potential pitfalls of paternalistic laws and policies – and how unintended, costly consequences can sabotage the most well-intended plans.

Key Features

• Introduces key concepts for understanding paternalism and freedom of choice for undergraduates and general readers
• Discusses how many of our preferences are not easily understood by others, and shows how assumptions of what our true preferences can often backfire
• Explores ways in which people may want the freedom to make mistakes
• Examines the unintended consequences and associated problems of many paternalistic laws and regulations

Index

abuse see drug abuse

Acceptability 89–91, 96–100, 151

addiction 45, 57, 114–115, 142–143

affect 105–106

affective forecasting 105–107, 117

agnosticism 98

Airbnb 145

“Al” 78; see also Neutral Hard Paternalism (NHP)

alcohol 119, 138, 144; see also prohibition; Prohibition (historical); War on Drugs

alcoholics 83, 109, 148; see also “Bob”; drinking

alcohol tax 15

anti-paternalism 63, 83–84; see also paternalism

Arrow, Kenneth 45–46

atheism 92

availability bias 110–112; see also bias

avoidance 41, 115–117

bad choices see CADet; freedom to make choices; irrationality; regret

bad credit 11

Badly-off Bob 37–38, 42–43, 46, 49, 51–52

ban 9, 108, 148–151; on addictive substances 114; of alcohol, sale of 144; and the body politic 134; on cigarettes 7, 9, 16, 24, 30, 146–147; on distractions 117; effectiveness of 120; and the nanny state 30; on smoking 5, 23–24; on unhealthy foods 39; see also prohibition; undue costs

bank account 111, 125, 134

bankruptcy 11

banned behaviors 44

“Baptists and Bootleggers” 144

baseball 23, 73

belief perseverance 118

beliefs 47, 95–96, 98, 118; default 107; and intentions 93; and judgments 77–78, 98; prior 109; and values 21, 59–60, 68, 70, 89, 92, 94; see also confirmation bias; Dunning-Kruger effect; false beliefs; irrational beliefs

“Ben” 102–104; see also soft paternalism

beneficence 127–132; see also Principle of Beneficence (PB)

Benn, Stanley 78

“Beth” 78; see also Neutral Hard Paternalism (NHP)

bias 10, 101–122; availability 110–...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• What the *Bleep* Do We Know? One
• How Do We Know What Other Two
• What If I Really Am Making Bad Choices? Three
• You’re Not the Boss of Me! Four
• Biases and Soft Paternalism Five
• Keep Your Bad Choices Out of My Bank Account! Six
• Why We Should Be Careful Seven
• Concluding Thoughts Eight
• Notes
• References
• Index