Challenging Your Autonomy: Others Telling You What Not to Eat

It is all about what has been called the "precautionary principle" which as defined in Wikipedia (where you can read all about it): "The precautionary principle or precautionary approach states if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the action or policy is harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking an act. This principle allows policy makers to make discretionary decisions in situations where there is the possibility of harm from taking a particular course or making a certain decision when extensive scientific knowledge on the matter is lacking. The principle implies that there is a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure to harm, when scientific investigation has found a plausible risk. These protections can be relaxed only if further scientific findings emerge that provide sound evidence that no harm will result.In some legal systems, as in the law of the European Union, the application of the precautionary principle has been made a statutory requirement."Do you want your government to order you or, if not, pressure you, what to eat and what not to eat and all based on the application of the "precautionary principle"?I found an excellent discussion of this issue in The New York Review of Books review by Cass R. Sunstein who reviews the book"Against Autonomy: Judging Coercive Paternalism" written by Sarah Conly. The ...
Source: Bioethics Discussion Blog - Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs