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Public Health as If People Mattered

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2025

Michael F. Cannon*
Affiliation:
Director of Health Policy Studies, Cato Institute

Abstract

This essay offers a framework for analyzing whether government may justifiably intervene to contain the spread of disease. Nonconsensual transmission of dangerous pathogens is an inherently violent act. This framework therefore justifies government public health activities for the same reasons and only to the same extent as other government activities. Government public health interventions are legitimate only to the extent they minimize the amount of violence in society. Violence-minimization is a more egalitarian and welfare-enhancing rule than, for example, a rule prescribing that government public health activities should minimize loss of life.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2025 Social Philosophy and Policy Foundation. Printed in the USA

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