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Deciding for Others: The Ethics of Surrogate Decision Making
Abstract
This book is the most comprehensive treatment available of one of the most urgent - and yet in some respects most neglected - problems in bioethics: decision-making for incompetents. Part I develops a general theory for making treatment and care decisions for patients who are not competent to decide for themselves. It provides an in-depth analysis of competence, articulates and defends a coherent set of principles to specify suitable surrogate decisionmakers and to guide their choices, examines the value of advance directives, and investigates the role that considerations of cost ought to play in decisions concerning incompetents. Part II applies this theoretical framework to the distinctive problems of three important classes of individuals, many of whom are incompetent: minors, the elderly and psychiatric patients. The authors' approach combines a probing analysis of fundamental issues in ethical theory with a sensitive awareness of the concrete realities of health care institutions and the highly personal and individual character of difficult practical problems. Its broad scope will appeal to health professionals, moral philosophers and lawyers alike.
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“Buchanan and Brock [26] state that decision-making capacity is a matter of minor differences (gradual model) and competence is either present or not (threshold model).”
From Why is it hard to make progress in assessing children's decision-making competence? (2015) · cites this paper as [26]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Buchanan, A. E., & Brock, D. W.
- Affiliations
- University of Arizona (US)
- Brown University (US)
- Venue
- Cambridge University Press eBooks
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Published
- 1990-01-26
- OpenAlex
- W4241880035
- Cited by
- 516
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 37 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 4.34
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cambridge University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics and bioethics in healthcare
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints
- Keywords
- surrogate decision-making, competence, advance directives, minors, elderly patients, psychiatric patients, treatment decision-making, bioethics
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