Reflections On Determining Competency
Psychiatrists are the health care professionals most frequently called upon to determine the competency of a patient to refuse treatment. The motives for determining competency vary in morally significant ways. This paper explores what I term ‘the ideal motivational situation’ for determining a pati...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2002
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| In: |
Bioethics
Year: 2002, Volume: 16, Issue: 5, Pages: 455-468 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Psychiatrists are the health care professionals most frequently called upon to determine the competency of a patient to refuse treatment. The motives for determining competency vary in morally significant ways. This paper explores what I term ‘the ideal motivational situation’ for determining a patient's competency: a desire to respect the patient's autonomy, a desire to promote the patient's overall best interests, and a belief that when these two motives conflict the patient's autonomy should not be dismissed out of hand as a partial patient interest which is naturally outweighed by the totality of his or her interests. I claim that in a liberal, democratic society autonomy ought to trump best interests and be the sole criterion of patient competence. I conclude by offering an essentially aesthetic criterion for determining autonomy. |
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| ISSN: | 1467-8519 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Bioethics
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/1467-8519.00302 |