Alejandro Hortal (University of North Carolina (UNC) at Greensboro; Wake Forest University - Department of Philosophy) has posted Virtue Nudges: Using Choice Architecture to Form Virtuous Citizens on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Nudges are policy interventions intended to change people’s behaviors and habits by organizing the choice environment. They aim to facilitate the right behavior as judged by people themselves according to some objective or consensual version of wellbeing. Nudges are utilized to boost vaccinations, increase contributions to retirement accounts, or improve healthy habits in citizens. Considering the increasing number of governments and agencies employing them, some authors (Iyer 2016; Niker 2018) have wondered about the possibility of using them to help develop virtues. This paper aims to answer that question, arguing that nudges are interventions that have the potential to assist in the formation of virtuous people efficiently. They do so by inculcating or helping maintain habits in individuals, respecting their freedom to choose while guaranteeing deliberation. This paper also claims that when those habits are related to virtues, they can be classified as virtue nudges. This new category includes precisely the types of nudges that seek behavioral change through habit formation tied to virtues. Consequently, considering their low cost, potential effectiveness, and libertarian approach, the article claims that governments and other institutions should seek ways to use them in conjunction with different types of interventions to promote and form a virtuous life.
