ABSTRACT
This entry considers the complex relationship between perfectionist politics and state paternalism. It discusses four main claims. These are that perfectionism in politics does not entail state paternalism, that a subset of state paternalistic policies has a perfectionist rationale, that perfectionist justice can require state paternalism, and that perfectionist state paternalism need not contravene a plausible principle of respect for persons. In discussing these four claims, the entry emphasizes that not all state paternalism is perfectionist, but that there is a type of state paternalism that has a distinctively perfectionist rationale. It critically analyzes a range of considerations that speak in favor of, and against, this type of distinctively perfectionist state paternalism.
