Behavioral Law and Economics: The Assault on Consent, Will, and Dignity

NEW ESSAYS ON PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS AND ECONOMICS: INTEGRATION AND COMMON RESEARCH PROJECTS, Gerald Gaus, Christi Favor, Julian Lamont, eds., Stanford University Press, Forthcoming

20 Pages Posted: 27 Sep 2008

See all articles by Mark D. White

Mark D. White

CUNY College of Staten Island

Date Written: August 20, 2008

Abstract

In "Behavioral Law and Economics: The Assault on Consent, Will, and Dignity," Mark D. White uses the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant to examine the intersection of economics, psychology, and law known as "behavioral law and economics." Scholars in this relatively new field claim that, because of various cognitive biases and failures, people often make choices that are not in their own interests. The policy implications of this are that public and private organizations, such as the state and employers, can and should design the presentation of options and default choices in order to "steer" people to the decision they would make, were they able to make choices in the absence of their cognitive biases and failures. Such policies are promoted under the name "libertarian paternalism," because choice is not blocked or co-opted, but simply "nudged." White argues that such manipulation of choice is impossible to conduct in people's true interests, and any other goal pursed by policymakers substitutes their own ends, however benevolent they may be, for people's true ends. Normatively, such manipulation should not be conducted because it fails to respect the dignity and autonomy of persons, what some hold to be the central idea in Kant's ethical system, and which serves to protect the individual from coercion, however subtle, from other persons or the state.

Suggested Citation

White, Mark D., Behavioral Law and Economics: The Assault on Consent, Will, and Dignity (August 20, 2008). NEW ESSAYS ON PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS AND ECONOMICS: INTEGRATION AND COMMON RESEARCH PROJECTS, Gerald Gaus, Christi Favor, Julian Lamont, eds., Stanford University Press, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1274444

Mark D. White (Contact Author)

CUNY College of Staten Island ( email )

Staten Island, NY
United States

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