Volume 1, Issue 1/2, 1989
2001 / Orwell & Huxley
James W. McGray
Pages 145-161
The Golden Rule and Paternalism
The aim of this article is to defend the morality of the Golden Rule from the objection that it will lead to intolerable paternalism. Once religious paternalism is allowed, Inquisitors come forward to care for the weak-willed and obtuse masses. Eventually, the Inquisitors lose their faith, and focus their concern upon harmony, health, and happiness in this life. The outcome is either a constrained distopia that is abhorrent (Huxley), or a cruel distopia which is the antithesis of what the Golden Rule is supposed to prescribe (Orwell), Paternalism presupposes knowledge that an agent is acting against his own best interests. Such epistemic justification is not available in matters of ethics or faith.