PASCAL'S WAGER AND THE PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE

I've argued that a version of Pascal's Wager applies to PVS so forcefully that no one who declines continued life without considering it makes a reasoned and informed decision. Thomas Mappes objects that my argument is much more limited than I realize. Of special interest is his appeal to...

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Главный автор: Stone, Jim (Автор)
Формат: Электронный ресурс Статья
Язык:Английский
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Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Опубликовано: 2007
В: Bioethics
Год: 2007, Том: 21, Выпуск: 2, Страницы: 84-92
Другие ключевые слова:B Pascal's Wager
B Informed Consent
B Persistent Vegetative State
B Advance Directive
B permanent vegetative state
B minimally conscious state
Online-ссылка: Presumably Free Access
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Итог:I've argued that a version of Pascal's Wager applies to PVS so forcefully that no one who declines continued life without considering it makes a reasoned and informed decision. Thomas Mappes objects that my argument is much more limited than I realize. Of special interest is his appeal to an emerging diagnostic category, the ‘minimally conscious state’, to argue that there is much to lose in gambling on life. I will defend the Wager. Along the way I maintain that the chance of recovery from long-term PVS is much better than represented (as is the prospect of regaining independence if one recovers consciousness), and that the 1994 Multi-Society Task Force definitions of ‘permanent’ PVS are confused in ways that make crafting advance directives dangerously difficult. Valid advance directives require informed consent, I argue; the Wager needs to be part of the process. A consequence of my argument is that withdrawing medically-delivered nutrition and hydration from PVS patients is much harder to justify.
ISSN:1467-8519
Второстепенные работы:Enthalten in: Bioethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8519.2007.00528.x