And What Is the Public Interest?

The concept of the public interest means different things to different individuals and groups. Too frequently there is a confusion between self and public interest. There was a time in Western society when the public interest was defined in religious terms, involving a triad: the individual the group, and a divinity. No adequate substitute for that triad has been found. The problem is illustrated in the case of Baby Jane Doe, and it is argued that neither those who sided for nor those who were against the parental decision to approve the operation on Baby Jane Doe had other than a superficial understanding of the concept of the public interest.