ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the idea of meddling in a more philosophical context. The primary emphasis is on the status of meddling with respect to individual liberty and social control. In the end, the effort to propose a less meddlesome, but also more civil, society yields a more congenial view of social constraint. The pendulum swings that constitute the political reaction to the issues that has been discussed are suggestive of Americans' ongoing confusion over central issues of individual liberty and social constraint. One answer to the question of the proper relationship between the individual and society is paternalism— the doctrine that individuals, weak and irresponsible by their very nature, must be constrained in their personal conduct for their own good. The tiresome debates being waged between liberals and conservatives are less than helpful when it comes to the issue of meddling because neither side has addressed the proper relationship between the individual and others.
