Paternalistic intervention, especially in the context of modern medicine and health care, is the topical issue of The Limits of Medical Paternalism. Dr Hayry aims to define and morally assess paternalistic interventions through a defined conceptual background. The method employed for this purpose is that of applied philosophical ethics in the analytic tradition. It is argued that there is a marked distinction between strong and weak paternalism. Strong paternalism is defined as the violation of autonomy of a patient ‘in her own best interest’ when the person is capable of autonomous decision-making in matters that concern primarily only herself. Weak paternalism is the violation of autonomy when a person is temporarily incapable of self-determined decision-making; it is therefore sometimes justifiable. The application of these views is that no overall a priori judgement concerning the rights and wrongs of such medical intervention is possible.