Diagnosis - Autonomy

Kerstin Knight (University of Melbourne), Kerstin Knight

Abstract:

My talk aims explore some of the practical puzzles and questions which arise from endeavors to apply the ideas of autonomy in medical practice. My interest at the moment is especially concerned with factors that are involved in telling the autonomous from the non-autonomous person. Can (or must)autonomy be diagnosed and if so how do we do it?  What 'tests' are available or appropriate and what can we infer from them? How do they match our varied conceptual expectations and constraints, especially when there are a variety of conceptions of autonomy in place. What role does rationality play in the diagnostic conundrum and how do we navigate from autonomous act to autonomous agent. In the broader scheme this relates to my research on advance directives for medical care, to which I may make some reference in passing.