Paternalism

This is descriptive of behaviour which assumes that the person behaving in a "paternalistic" manner knows better than the individual he is advising or remonstrating with. To some, such behaviour is seen as offensive, as it indicates incompetence, incapacity and a lower standing in the person being advised (such as may be assumed in a father/child relationship). However, it may be argued that benevolent interference in a person's conduct or choice, when it is clear that his behaviour deviates from his own preferred desires and dispositions, does not constitute a violation of his personal integrity. Such an argument is based on the knowledge that an individual acquires a specific personality or identity through learning, constructing a unity through deliberation, experimentation, and accommodation of inherent capacities which are too many and various for all to be fully developed or even developed at all. It is in fact a positive assistance in the development of personal integrity to receive support in resisting the tendency to lapse or deviate from one's personal permanent and central commitments, in particular when such a lapse could put such significant aims or preferences in jeopardy.

It is further argued that it is insufficient to stand by while another makes a mess of his life, simply extending sympathy after it has happened. Although it involves taking a moral risk, positive interference to prevent catastrophe is necessary in a world in which ideal models of individual excellence are frequently aimed for but rarely achieved.