Libertarian paternalism and the capability approach. Friends or foes?

This paper compares the capability approach (CA) and libertarian paternalism (LP) to see whether they are compatible. The comparison focuses on rationality, wellbeing, and freedom. The main theoretical framework is Sen’s ‘reason to value’ (RtV). The relevance of this to CA, and LP is analysed, and w...

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Main Author: Aleksander Ostapiuk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Polish Economic Society 2024-12-01
Series:Ekonomista
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ekonomista.pte.pl/Libertarian-paternalism-and-the-capability-napproach-Friends-or-foes-,188776,0,2.html
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author Aleksander Ostapiuk
author_facet Aleksander Ostapiuk
author_sort Aleksander Ostapiuk
collection DOAJ
description This paper compares the capability approach (CA) and libertarian paternalism (LP) to see whether they are compatible. The comparison focuses on rationality, wellbeing, and freedom. The main theoretical framework is Sen’s ‘reason to value’ (RtV). The relevance of this to CA, and LP is analysed, and whether the primacy that CA and LP both accord to reason leads to paternalism is examined. Although the principal focus is on Sen’s, Sunstein’s and Thaler’s original ideas, their key concepts are analysed in the context of the contemporary critical literature on the topic. This critical analysis not only makes it possible to assess whether CA and LP are compatible, but also to see how they perceive rationality, wellbeing, and freedom. The critical analysis further differentiates the various interpretations of RtV in the literature and explains how CA and LP function.
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spelling doaj-art-313c76429f4646f896be40d39cb608fc2025-08-20T02:39:50ZengPolish Economic SocietyEkonomista0013-32052299-61842024-12-01445648210.52335/ekon/188776188776Libertarian paternalism and the capability approach. Friends or foes?Aleksander Ostapiuk0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9982-1938Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, PolskaThis paper compares the capability approach (CA) and libertarian paternalism (LP) to see whether they are compatible. The comparison focuses on rationality, wellbeing, and freedom. The main theoretical framework is Sen’s ‘reason to value’ (RtV). The relevance of this to CA, and LP is analysed, and whether the primacy that CA and LP both accord to reason leads to paternalism is examined. Although the principal focus is on Sen’s, Sunstein’s and Thaler’s original ideas, their key concepts are analysed in the context of the contemporary critical literature on the topic. This critical analysis not only makes it possible to assess whether CA and LP are compatible, but also to see how they perceive rationality, wellbeing, and freedom. The critical analysis further differentiates the various interpretations of RtV in the literature and explains how CA and LP function.https://ekonomista.pte.pl/Libertarian-paternalism-and-the-capability-napproach-Friends-or-foes-,188776,0,2.htmlfreedompaternalismcapability approach (ca)libertarian paternalismreason to value (rtv)
spellingShingle Aleksander Ostapiuk
Libertarian paternalism and the capability approach. Friends or foes?
Ekonomista
freedom
paternalism
capability approach (ca)
libertarian paternalism
reason to value (rtv)
title Libertarian paternalism and the capability approach. Friends or foes?
title_full Libertarian paternalism and the capability approach. Friends or foes?
title_fullStr Libertarian paternalism and the capability approach. Friends or foes?
title_full_unstemmed Libertarian paternalism and the capability approach. Friends or foes?
title_short Libertarian paternalism and the capability approach. Friends or foes?
title_sort libertarian paternalism and the capability approach friends or foes
topic freedom
paternalism
capability approach (ca)
libertarian paternalism
reason to value (rtv)
url https://ekonomista.pte.pl/Libertarian-paternalism-and-the-capability-napproach-Friends-or-foes-,188776,0,2.html
work_keys_str_mv AT aleksanderostapiuk libertarianpaternalismandthecapabilityapproachfriendsorfoes