Autonomy in Bioethics: criticisms and re-definitions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/isegoria.2022.67.12Keywords:
Autonomy, Bioethics, Death’s taboo, FeminismAbstract
This article problematizes the current use in bioethics of the concept of autonomy in light of various contemporary criticisms and the taboo on death that prevails today in Western societies. After describing the historical development of this notion, I revise some of these objections, particularly those coming from the fields of medical ethics and feminism, and advance a new criticism on the basis of the mentioned taboo. I put forward a conception of autonomy more philosophically robust, which involves, first, the individuals’ capacity to establish ends for themselves and deliberate on the most effective and moral means to achieve them, and, second, the role that particular ties of interdependence as well as society as a whole play in this process. I suggest, then, that contemporary bioethics would benefit from understanding individual autonomy as a social goal, that is, as an end to be socially promoted.
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