Duty to Self

That we owe duties to others is a commonplace the subject of countless philosophical treatises and monographs. Morality is interpersonal and other-directed many claim. But what of what we owe ourselves? In <em>Duty to Self</em> Paul Schofield flips the paradigm of interpersonal morality by arguing that there are moral duties we owe <em>ourselves</em> and that in light of this philosophers need to significantly rethink many of their views about practical reason moral psychology politics and moral emotions. <p/>Among these views is the idea that divisions within a person's life enable her to relate to herself second-personally--that is as though she were relating to a distinct other person--in the way required by morality. Further there exist political duties owed to the self which the state may coerce persons to perform. This amounts to a novel argument for paternalistic law which appeals to considerations of right justice and freedom in order to justify coercing a person for their own sake--a liberal justification for an idea typically thought to be deeply at odds with liberalism. <p/>Schofield untangles how this view would impact various issues in applied ethics and political philosophy for example financial prudence and risk the pursuit of the good life and medical ethics. <em>Duty to Self</em> is essential for anyone working in moral and political philosophy or political theory.<br>