PHIL 307 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Harm Principle, Tax Deduction
26 May 2016
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The state should remain neutral in ideas that people may have as to what is good Shouldn"t choose one ideal that they think is good over another. The neutrality principle is more demanding in one respect but less demanding in another respect. Not taking a position on how people live their lives, it is just keeping people from doing harm to themselves. The harm principle demands that the state not be paternalist, but the neutrality principle does not demand this. If you engage in commercial sex, you are going to have to pay a fine and go to jail. That raises the price of engaging in commercial sex and, thus, limits your liberty. Suppose we say that if you give a certain amount of money to charities, you get a tax deduction. Could be that the government thinks that giving to charity makes you a better person.
