Interpersonal Manipulation

Abstract

This article argues that manipulation is negligent influence. Manipulation is negligent in the sense that manipulators do not chose their method of influence because for its potential to reveal reasons to their victims. Thus, manipulation is a lack of care, or negligence, exclusively understood in terms of how one influences. That makes the proposed account superior to the most influential alternative, which analyses manipulation disjunctively as violation of several distinct types of norms. The implication is a paradigm shift in understanding manipulation in terms of what manipulators intend to do toward a focus on what they fail to do or intend.

Keywords: Manipulation, Rationality, Autonomy, Intention, Nudging, Reasons

JEL Classification: 13, K2, D003, D10, D11, D18, D60, D80, K0, K2