The Porosity Of Autonomy: Social And Biological Constitution Of The Patient In Biomedicine

Keywords

autonomy, relational autonomy, individual, biological constitution, microbial ecology

Abstract

The nature and role of the patient in biomedicine comprise issues central to bioethical inquiry. Given its developmental history grounded firmly in a backlash against 20th-century cases of egregious human subjects abuse, contemporary medical bioethics has come to rely on a fundamental assumption: the unit of care (and the unit of value) is the autonomous self-directing patient. In this article we examine first the structure of the feminist social critique of autonomy. Then we show that a parallel argument can be made against relational autonomy as well, demonstrating how this second concept of autonomy fails to take sufficiently into account an array of biological determinants, particularly those from microbial biology. Finally, in light of this biological critique, we question whether or to what extent any relevant and meaningful view of autonomy can be recovered in the contemporary landscape of bioethics.

Publication Date

2-1-2016

Publication Title

American Journal of Bioethics

Volume

16

Issue

2

Number of Pages

34-45

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2015.1120793

Socpus ID

84956705061 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84956705061

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