Autonomy, Capacity, and Consent

(3 Credits)

This course investigates the nature of and relationship between autonomy, decision-making capacity, and informed consent. It divides into three parts. The first part asks: what is it to act autonomously and why is autonomy important? The second part asks: what is required to have decision-making capacity, understood as the ability of subjects to make their own medical and health-related decisions, and what is its relationship to autonomy? The third asks: what is consent, and why is it important? Although the focus of the course will be on general moral, metaphysical, and legal questions such as these, it will also consider a range of case studies arising in medical, research, and public health settings.