Rational Desires and the Limitation of Life-Sustaining Treatment
Creator
Savulescu, Julian
Bibliographic Citation
Bioethics. 1994 Jul; 8(3): 191-222.
Abstract
It is accepted that treatment of previously competent, now incompetent patients can be limited if that is what the patient would desire, if she were now competent. Expressed past preferences or an advance directive are often taken to constitute sufficient evidence of what a patient would now desire. I distinguish between desires and rational desires. I argue that for a desire to be an expression of a person's autonomy, it must be or satisfy that person's rational desires. A person rationally desires a course of action if that person desires it while being in possession of all available relevant facts, without committing relevant error of logic, and "vividly imagining" what its consequences would be like for her. I argue that some competent, expressed desires obstruct autonomy. I show that several psychological mechanisms operate to prevent a person rationally evaluating what future life in a disabled state would be like. Rational evaluation is difficult. However, treatment limitation, if it is to respect autonomy, must be in accord with a patient's rational desires, and not merely her expressed desires. I illustrate the implications of these arguments for the use of advance directives and for the treatment of competent patients.
Date
1994-07Subject
Advance Directives; Advisory Committees; Allowing to Die; Autonomy; Competence; Comprehension; Contracts; Consent; Decision Making; Directive Adherence; Evaluation; Health; Health Personnel; Life; Paternalism; Patients; Philosophy; Psychology; Quality of Life; Third Party Consent; Treatment Refusal; Values;
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