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Abstract

I identify two problematic conclusions that remain somewhat implicit in Rizzo and Whitman’s book: the Panglossian conclusion that whatever the individual thinks or wants is best for her, and the Fatalistic conclusion that there are no justified paternalistic interventions. Against the first conclusion, I critically discuss the authors’ arguments against consistency-based rationality. Against the second, I show that there is a whole class of paternalistic interventions, Boosts, that do not require Rizzo and Whitman’s demanding epistemic preconditions in order to be successful.