Nudge—A new and better way to improve health?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Nudge—A new and better way to improve health?

AU - Vallgårda, Signild

PY - 2012/2

Y1 - 2012/2

N2 - Nudging, or libertarian paternalism, is presented as a new and ethically justified way of improving people's health. It has proved influential and is currently taken up by the governments in the US, the UK and France. One may question the claim that the approach is new, in any case it has many similarities with the idea of "making healthy choices easier" Whether the approach is better from an ethical perspective depends on the ethical principles one holds. From a paternalistic perspective there could be no objections, but from a libertarian, there are several. Contrary to what the authors state, libertarian paternalism is an oxymoron.

AB - Nudging, or libertarian paternalism, is presented as a new and ethically justified way of improving people's health. It has proved influential and is currently taken up by the governments in the US, the UK and France. One may question the claim that the approach is new, in any case it has many similarities with the idea of "making healthy choices easier" Whether the approach is better from an ethical perspective depends on the ethical principles one holds. From a paternalistic perspective there could be no objections, but from a libertarian, there are several. Contrary to what the authors state, libertarian paternalism is an oxymoron.

KW - Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

KW - public health ethics

KW - Health Policy

KW - Health Promotion

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0168-8510

VL - 104

SP - 200

EP - 203

JO - Health Policy

JF - Health Policy

IS - 2

ER -