Sometimes we must curtail certain liberties so we can support the freedom to live a healthy life. But how much constraint is too much? How much is not enough?
Alasdair MacIntyre argued that autonomy isn’t an individually held capacity but a communally achieved state. The extent to which any of us can exercise autonomy is subject to the influences over our lives, past and present. So it is with public health.
This also reminds me that life without limits and boundaries is lethal. If I didn’t have my skin - a very effective boundary - I would die. If we weren’t enmeshed in the complex network of relationships with individuals and institutions, so too would we die. The challenge is, as you write, how do we negotiate those limits and boundaries with others, particularly authorities.
Alasdair MacIntyre argued that autonomy isn’t an individually held capacity but a communally achieved state. The extent to which any of us can exercise autonomy is subject to the influences over our lives, past and present. So it is with public health.
This also reminds me that life without limits and boundaries is lethal. If I didn’t have my skin - a very effective boundary - I would die. If we weren’t enmeshed in the complex network of relationships with individuals and institutions, so too would we die. The challenge is, as you write, how do we negotiate those limits and boundaries with others, particularly authorities.