Chapter 10 Moral Conflict in the Minimally Conscious State

In the next section, I sketch a view in which the possession of phenomenal consciousness (henceforth: “consciousness”) is necessary for possession of (positive or negative degrees of) subjective well-being. It would seem that the possession of consciousness supplies caregivers reason to enhance the...

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Glavni avtor: Shepherd, Joshua
Format: Online
Jezik:angleščina
Izdano: Oxford University Press 2021
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author Shepherd, Joshua
author_browse Shepherd, Joshua
author_facet Shepherd, Joshua
author_sort Shepherd, Joshua
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description In the next section, I sketch a view in which the possession of phenomenal consciousness (henceforth: “consciousness”) is necessary for possession of (positive or negative degrees of) subjective well-being. It would seem that the possession of consciousness supplies caregivers reason to enhance the well-being of MCS patients. Unfortunately, as I discuss next, matters are complicated by a certain kind of moral conflict that arises in decision-making situations regarding MCS patient care. In many cases, it seems difficult, and perhaps impossible, to respect an MCS patient’s autonomy—as embodied in her autonomously expressed prior wishes or in the wishes she would presently autonomously express were she competent to do so—while promoting the well-being she presently enjoys and will plausibly enjoy in the future. Later, I consider views according to which the moral conflict is only apparent, because considerations of autonomy trump considerations of well-being (or vice-versa). I argue that neither view is satisfying: We are left with genuine moral conflict. However, consideration of these views is salutary, because their weaknesses motivate a mixed view in which considerations of both autonomy and well-being should in many cases be weighed against each other, as well as other relevant moral considerations (e.g., considerations of distributive justice). In the final section, I draw four practical conclusions.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-646152025-01-23T17:44:46Z Chapter 10 Moral Conflict in the Minimally Conscious State Shepherd, Joshua consciousness, vegetative state, minimally conscious state, moral conflict thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PS Biology, life sciences::PSA Life sciences: general issues::PSAN Neurosciences In the next section, I sketch a view in which the possession of phenomenal consciousness (henceforth: “consciousness”) is necessary for possession of (positive or negative degrees of) subjective well-being. It would seem that the possession of consciousness supplies caregivers reason to enhance the well-being of MCS patients. Unfortunately, as I discuss next, matters are complicated by a certain kind of moral conflict that arises in decision-making situations regarding MCS patient care. In many cases, it seems difficult, and perhaps impossible, to respect an MCS patient’s autonomy—as embodied in her autonomously expressed prior wishes or in the wishes she would presently autonomously express were she competent to do so—while promoting the well-being she presently enjoys and will plausibly enjoy in the future. Later, I consider views according to which the moral conflict is only apparent, because considerations of autonomy trump considerations of well-being (or vice-versa). I argue that neither view is satisfying: We are left with genuine moral conflict. However, consideration of these views is salutary, because their weaknesses motivate a mixed view in which considerations of both autonomy and well-being should in many cases be weighed against each other, as well as other relevant moral considerations (e.g., considerations of distributive justice). In the final section, I draw four practical conclusions. 2021-04-15T02:02:43Z 2021-04-15T02:02:43Z 2021-04-14T11:51:05Z 2016 chapter https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/47841 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/64615 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International Attribution 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/47841/1/Bookshelf_NBK367592.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/47841/1/Bookshelf_NBK367592.pdf Oxford University Press db4e319f-ca9f-449a-bcf2-37d7c6f885b1 Finding Consciousness Wellcome Trust d859fbd3-d884-4090-a0ec-baf821c9abfd Wellcome 14 Oxford 104347/Z/14/Z. open access
spellingShingle consciousness, vegetative state, minimally conscious state, moral conflict
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PS Biology, life sciences::PSA Life sciences: general issues::PSAN Neurosciences
Shepherd, Joshua
Chapter 10 Moral Conflict in the Minimally Conscious State
title Chapter 10 Moral Conflict in the Minimally Conscious State
title_full Chapter 10 Moral Conflict in the Minimally Conscious State
title_fullStr Chapter 10 Moral Conflict in the Minimally Conscious State
title_full_unstemmed Chapter 10 Moral Conflict in the Minimally Conscious State
title_short Chapter 10 Moral Conflict in the Minimally Conscious State
title_sort chapter 10 moral conflict in the minimally conscious state
topic consciousness, vegetative state, minimally conscious state, moral conflict
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PS Biology, life sciences::PSA Life sciences: general issues::PSAN Neurosciences
topic_facet consciousness, vegetative state, minimally conscious state, moral conflict
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PS Biology, life sciences::PSA Life sciences: general issues::PSAN Neurosciences
url https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/47841
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