The Tyranny of Utility: Behavioral Social Science and the Rise of Paternalism
Gilles Saint-Paul
Abstract
The general assumption that social policy should be utilitarian—that society should be organized to yield the greatest level of welfare—leads inexorably to increased government interventions. Historically, however, the science of economics has advocated limits to these interventions for utilitarian reasons and because of the assumption that people know what is best for themselves. But more recently, behavioral economics has focused on biases and inconsistencies in individual behavior. Based on these developments, governments now prescribe the foods we eat, the apartments we rent, and the compo ... More
The general assumption that social policy should be utilitarian—that society should be organized to yield the greatest level of welfare—leads inexorably to increased government interventions. Historically, however, the science of economics has advocated limits to these interventions for utilitarian reasons and because of the assumption that people know what is best for themselves. But more recently, behavioral economics has focused on biases and inconsistencies in individual behavior. Based on these developments, governments now prescribe the foods we eat, the apartments we rent, and the composition of our financial portfolios. This book takes on this rise of paternalism and its dangers for individual freedoms, and examines how developments in economics and the social sciences are leading to greater government intrusion in our private lives. The book posits that the utilitarian foundations of individual freedom promoted by traditional economics are fundamentally flawed. When combined with developments in social science that view the individual as incapable of making rational and responsible choices, utilitarianism seems to logically call for greater governmental intervention in our lives. Arguing that this cannot be defended on purely instrumental grounds, the book calls for individual liberty to be restored as a central value in our society. Exploring how behavioral economics is contributing to the excessive rise of paternalistic interventions, this book presents a controversial challenge to the prevailing currents in economic and political discourse.
Keywords:
utilitarian social policy,
welfare,
government intervention,
individual freedom,
paternalism,
individual liberty
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2011 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780691128177 |
Published to Princeton Scholarship Online: October 2017 |
DOI:10.23943/princeton/9780691128177.001.0001 |