Fairness and Respect in Obesity Prevention Policies: A Response to David Buchanan

In his response to our article (1,2), David Buchanan introduces some useful and important distinctions in the concepts of equality and autonomy. He highlights, for example, the distinction between inequality and inequity, which captures the insight that not all differences between people are unjust. Unjust inequalities are a subset of differences between people, and theories of justice can be defined by how they determine which of these differences are unjust. In addition, he points out that autonomy is not simply a matter of negative liberty, but also about a positive capacity to act. This understanding of autonomy is consistent with the account we offered in the paper, which underlines the importance of both the capacity to understand available options, and the capacity to act on the choices that one makes.