Aristotle's view on healthcare

One interesting topic of discussion that arises in Aristotle’s Ethics and that has important implications in our own lives is the scope and role of the state. Book ten highlights this distinction with an interesting discussion about the role and aim of law. Aristotle points out a function of law that still exists today, namely law as a power to compel action. Indeed, this is an obvious way that law operates even today. It provides a certain set of incentives to coerce or compel certain responses in people. Hence, the law can provide negative incentives, or punishments, for certain actions that deter people from committing those actions, or it can provide positive incentives that reward people for certain actions. By using these rewards and punishments the law is able to manipulate people’s behavior.

This function of law is predicated on certain assumptions about the role of the state or government. That is, being able to pass and enforce laws which have the effect of changing people’s behavior carries an immense responsibility. This raises questions about how much power and scope of authority the state should have in passing law. This is born out in our own time by the recent healthcare debates. After the bill was passed, there were several law suits filed that alleged the bill to be unconstitutional, insofar as the government didn’t have the power to make people buy healthcare insurance. Here is one instance in which some have viewed the state overstepping its bounds in the extent to which it can control people’s actions. More broadly these debates and objections highlight a more fundamental issue about what the acceptable realm of government should be and the extent to which it should be able to coerce the actions of its people.

Aristotle’s own opinion may strike some as odd. Indeed, Aristotle views the state as having a very active role in shaping and structuring the actions of its people. Book ten shows that Aristotle viewed law as a way to regulate the upbringing and pursuits of the youth so that they might be habituated into good action. This is also born out by Aristotle’s view that the goal of politics is to make laws that are derived from practical wisdom and intelligence to shape the populace. Hence, government for Aristotle was a way of implementing his ethical view and encouraging and structuring the populace accordingly. Applying this logic to our own time we might conclude that the government has the right to force us to buy healthcare, since it is conducive to maintaining a standard of life which allows us to habituate good conduct and achieve the good.