Book Review: Ageing Without Ageism? Conceptual Puzzles and Policy Proposals (original) (raw)

Ageing Without Ageism? Conceptual Puzzles and Policy Proposals is a collection of 18 essays that examine various aspects of ageing, ageism, age-related politics and public policy from different philosophical and ethical perspectives. As noted in the Introduction, this book is timely owing to two key factors. First, given the increased emphasis on interrogating categories like gender, race, disability and sexuality in framing inclusive social policies, it is essential to critically assess 'age' as well. This involves examining whether age-based categorisations are distinct from other categories or not. Second, as societies face ageing demographics, there is an urgent need for policies that address these demographic shifts effectively (pp. 1-2). To that end, the essays in Part 1 (Chapters 1 to 7) primarily address philosophical questions related to age and ageism, while those in Part 2 (Chapters 8 to 18) concentrate on age-related policy issues intersecting with other critical areas, including education, health care, political participation, taxation and inheritance. It should be noted that the chapter numbering in the hardback edition is different from that in the online book. In Chapter 1 ' Age discrimination: is it special? Is it wrong?' , Katharina Berndt Rasmussen categorises four distinct forms of age-based treatment and, thereafter, employs three theoretical frameworks to critically assess the morality of agedifferentiated treatment. In Chapter 2 'Does the badness of disability differ from that of old age?' , Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen compares old age with disability, proposing a 'moderate-bad-difference-view of disability' that acknowledges the general disadvantages associated with disability while highlighting their complex interplay with social and non-social factors. In Chapter 3 'In defence of age-differentiated paternalism' , Viki Møller Lyngby Pedersen examines the feasibility of social policies that restrict children's and adolescents' liberties based on paternalistic grounds. Pedersen distinguishes between 'soft' and 'hard' paternalistic policies, suggesting that while the justification for any form of paternalism generally weakens with age, the effectiveness of any specific policy measure will hinge on whether the 'hard' or 'soft' paternalistic approach is