Autonomy and Clinical Medicine

by Bergsma, Jurrit; Thomasma, David C.

• ISBN13: 9780792362074
• ISBN10: 0792362071
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-03-01
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic Pub

Summary

This book is the result of a long-standing clinical and educational cooperation between a medical psychologist (Bergsma) and a medical ethicist/philosopher (Thomasma). It is thoroughly interdisciplinary in its examination of the difficulties of honoring the patient's and the physician's autonomy, especially in light of the changes in health care worldwide today. Although autonomy has become the primary standard of bioethics, little has been done to link it to the ways people actually behave, nor to its roots in the healing relationship. Combining as it does the disciplines of psychology and philosophy, this book is a step in that direction.

Table of Contents

Dedication	v
Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
PART ONE: The Dynamics of Autonomy
Autonomy as a Behavioral Concept	3	(20)
Autonomy, Identity, and Physical Disruption	23	(22)
Autonomy in the Doctor-Patient Encounter	45	(32)
PART TWO: Reflections on Autonomy
Modes of Autonomy: Psychology Meets Philosophy	77	(12)
Freedom and the Social Aspect of Medicine	89	(14)
Moving Beyond Autonomy to the Person with Illness	103	(18)
Autonomy and Ethical Models of the Doctor-Patient Relationship	121	(24)
PART THREE: Conclusion
Reconstituting the Doctor-Patient Encounter	145	(16)
Bibliography	161	(14)
Index	175