We might want to consider the idea that the ‘victims’ of ideology-driven psychological harms might be blameworthy, even if they are not the least-cost avoider any more. It might be the case that the cheapest way to avoid the harm is to not adopt the ideology in the first place but, having adopted it, it is very hard to avoid subsequent harm, and it cannot easily be un-adopted. In this case I think we would not want to encourage people to adopt such an ideology, so we might want to hold them responsible after the fact. (This is implicitly covered in your piece but I thought I’d make it explicit).
Yes, 100%. Worth noting that, in law, “cost-avoider” assessments include the cost of avoiding the cost ex ante, not just the cost of remedying it ex post! After all, we care about incentive-setting.
Great article, very logical approach.
We might want to consider the idea that the ‘victims’ of ideology-driven psychological harms might be blameworthy, even if they are not the least-cost avoider any more. It might be the case that the cheapest way to avoid the harm is to not adopt the ideology in the first place but, having adopted it, it is very hard to avoid subsequent harm, and it cannot easily be un-adopted. In this case I think we would not want to encourage people to adopt such an ideology, so we might want to hold them responsible after the fact. (This is implicitly covered in your piece but I thought I’d make it explicit).
Yes, 100%. Worth noting that, in law, “cost-avoider” assessments include the cost of avoiding the cost ex ante, not just the cost of remedying it ex post! After all, we care about incentive-setting.