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e-Pública: Revista Eletrónica de Direito Público

 ISSN 2183-184X

FERRARO, FRANCESCO. The Problem With Nudges: Paternalism, Autonomy, and Transparency. []. , 8, 2, pp.26-36.   02--2022. ISSN 2183-184X.  https://doi.org/10.47345/v8n2art3.

Nudging as a tool of public policies has often been criticized on account of two assumptions: 1) it is more dangerous than traditional command & control regulation for human dignity and autonomy; 2) when it is justified on paternalistic grounds, it is even more problematic than in its non-paternalistic applications. This paper seeks to challenge both assumptions, by showing that the main problem with nudging is one of transparency, but this can be obtained without impairing its effectiveness; moreover, paternalistic nudging is means paternalism, not ends paternalism, which means that it is not a form of perfectionism superimposed on the people’s individual ends.

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