Self-regarding actions
Topic: Political Theory: Freedom and Rights · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "Freedom"
Meaning
In J.S. Mill's harm principle (On Liberty, 1859), self-regarding actions are actions whose effects fall only on the person who does them. Mill said these are "my business". Neither the state nor any other authority may interfere, even if others think the choice is unwise. The idea protects a private zone of personal choice.
Example
What a person reads at home, or how they dress, is self-regarding. Critics point to grey areas such as drug use and helmet laws. Does a rider without a helmet harm only themselves, or also their family and society? This is the debate about paternalism, meaning the state limiting people's choices for their own good.
Don't confuse with
- Other-regarding actions: these affect others. Law may step in, but only when they cause serious harm to definite individuals.