title: Agency and authenticity: which value grounds patient choice?
abstract: In current American medical practice, autonomy is assumed to be more valuable than human life: if a patient autonomously refuses lifesaving treatment, the doctors are supposed to let him die. In this paper we discuss two values that might be at stake in such clinical contexts. Usually, we hear only of autonomy and best interests. However, here, autonomy is ambiguous between two concepts-concepts that are tied to different values and to different philosophical traditions. In some cases, the two values (that of agency and that of authenticity) entail different outcomes. We argue that the comparative value of these values needs to be assessed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, The University of Chicago, 1115 East 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. dbrudney@uchicago.edu
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brudney
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lantos
mesh_terms: D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000941:ethics; D003657:Decision Making / Q000941:ethics*; D026689:Ethical Analysis; D028663:Ethical Theory; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000523:psychology; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D016312:Treatment Refusal / Q000941:ethics; D026712:Value of Life