Paternalism and Consent: Some Educational Problems

An exploration of subsequent consent as a sufficient condition of justified paternalistic interference reveals that there are other factors, beyond consent, which are the salient criteria of justification. It is argued that these criteria are educational in character, and so it is on educational grounds that we must judge particular cases of paternalism. Examination of the issue of the upbringing of children suggests that significant progress in our understanding of the problems inherent in paternalistic decision-making can be made through the development of educational theory.