Title |
Responsibility as an Obstacle to Good Policy: The Case of Lifestyle Related Disease
|
---|---|
Published in |
Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, June 2018
|
DOI | 10.1007/s11673-018-9860-y |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Neil Levy |
Abstract |
There is a lively debate over who is to blame for the harms arising from unhealthy behaviours, like overeating and excessive drinking. In this paper, I argue that given how demanding the conditions required for moral responsibility actually are, we cannot be highly confident that anyone is ever morally responsible. I also adduce evidence that holding people responsible for their unhealthy behaviours has costs: it undermines public support for the measures that are likely to have the most impact on these harms. I claim that these two facts-the fact that we cannot be highly confident that anyone is morally responsible and the fact that holding people responsible for their unhealthy behaviours has costs-interact. Together they give us a powerful reason for believing, or acting as if we believed, that ordinary people are not in fact responsible for their unhealthy behaviours. |
X Demographics
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Netherlands | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Members of the public | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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Unknown | 16 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
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Student > Master | 2 | 13% |
Lecturer | 2 | 13% |
Student > Bachelor | 2 | 13% |
Lecturer > Senior Lecturer | 1 | 6% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 1 | 6% |
Other | 0 | 0% |
Unknown | 8 | 50% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
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Nursing and Health Professions | 2 | 13% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 2 | 13% |
Social Sciences | 2 | 13% |
Business, Management and Accounting | 1 | 6% |
Philosophy | 1 | 6% |
Other | 0 | 0% |
Unknown | 8 | 50% |