title: Surrogate decision making and intellectual virtue.
abstract: Patients can be harmed by a religiously motivated surrogate decision maker whose decisions are contrary to the standard of care; therefore, surrogate decision making should be held to a high standard. Stewart Eskew and Christopher Meyers proposed a two-part rule for deciding which religiously based decisions to honor: (1) a secular reason condition and (2) a rationality condition. The second condition is based on a coherence theory of rationality, which they claim is accessible, generous, and culturally sensitive. In this article, I will propose strengthening the rationality condition by grounding it in a theory of intellectual virtue, which is both rigorous and culturally sensitive.
authors.affiliation: Walters State Community College, 500 South Davy Crockett Parkway, Morristown, TN 37813 USA. greg.bock@ws.edu.
authors.forename: Gregory L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Bock
mesh_terms: D003071:Cognition; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D003657:Decision Making / Q000941:ethics*; D026689:Ethical Analysis; D028663:Ethical Theory; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007600:Judgment / Q000941:ethics*; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000941:ethics*; D019727:Proxy; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D028722:Virtues