Care, paternalism and virtue from a liberal perspective

This article advocates two criteria to distinguish good and bad paternalism in a liberal perfectionist view. It identifies paternalism based on the value of autonomy and paternalism based on other values. Only the first is compatible with liberalism. Within the first group, I identify paternalism based on a specific definition of autonomy and another that does not assume a specific definition of autonomy. Whereas the first is morally justified, legally, only the second is compatible with liberalism. Through a discussion of how care economics works and is justified – and other particular examples – this article shows how paternalistic policies may be desirable, acceptable or unacceptable according to their compliance with these criteria.