Does a public health nanny state know best?

Is the "nanny state" just an excuse? Unpack public health criticism and learn why some complaints deserve to be taken seriously.
About this Event

Talk Description

Nanny states treat adults like children. They get too worked up about supposed threats to health and safety, and they like being in control. But does a state really nanny us when it uses its power to make us healthier? Is it wrong to tax cigarettes heavily, sugar lightly, and alcohol in the middle? Should the density of fast-food outlets be reduced? Should advertising campaigns make smokers feel dirty or guilty? Surely we want to be healthy rather than ill; alive rather than dead. Join Professor Martin Wilkinson to hear about nanny state criticism of public health. Public health advocates say that complaints about the nanny state are dishonest, incoherent or doctrinaire, but he says they should be taken seriously – and even though sinister corporate interests and extreme libertarians are among those who complain the most, he suggests they often have a point.
Bio

Martin Wilkinson is a Professor in Politics and International Relations in the Faculty of Arts and Education. His primary research is in health policy ethics. His books include The Ethics of Public Health Paternalism and Ethics and the Acquisition of Organs. He chaired New Zealand’s Bioethics Council, deputy chaired the National Ethics Advisory Committee and now serves on Auckland Hospital’s Clinical Ethics Advisory Group. He has undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Oxford.