THE ETHICIST TAP. : AGIING MOTHER'S DRIVING [ A 2 ]

 

YOU'LL do better, I suspect, if you treat her as the adult she still is. If she thinks she can get the D.M.V to reverse itself, tell her why you want to hold her keys in the meantime.

'' Persuasion,'' the narrator of Katie Kitamura's  novel. '' Audition '' remarks, '' is only one step removed from coercion.''

If so, it's an important step. Offer practical suggestions for preserving her mobility.  Perhaps she could sell the car, cancel her insurance and use the money to cover the ride-hailing services.

Perhaps you and her sibling could also volunteer to drive her for, say, weekly shopping excursions.

Perhaps she has friends who would take her to some off her appointments, or perhaps she could have a home health aide to drive her around a few times a week.

In other words, rather than focusing on what you don't want her to do, come up with proposals that leave her with at least some of her freedom she dreads losing.

The World Students Society thanks Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah.