Theories of the Self and Autonomy in Medical Ethics

This book engages in a critical discussion on how to respect and promote patients’ autonomy in difficult cases such as palliative care and end-of-life decisions. These cases pose specific epistemic, normative, and practical problems, and the book elucidates the connection between the practical implications of the theoretical debate on respecting autonomy, on the one hand, and specific questions and challenges that arise in medical practice, on the other hand. Given that the idea of personal autonomy includes the notion of authenticity as one of its core components, the book explicitly includes discussions on underlying theories of the self. In doing so, it brings together original contributions and novel insights for “applied” scenarios based on interdisciplinary collaboration between German and Serbian scholars from philosophy, sociology, and law. It is of benefit to anyone cherishing autonomy in medical ethics and medical practice. 

Michael Kühler is Assistant Professor at the University of Twente, Netherlands, and “Privatdozent” (roughly equaling Associate Professor) at Münster University, Germany. His research interests include ethics, medical ethics, metaethics, and political philosophy. His recent publications include “Technological Moral Luck,” in: Beck, Birgit/Kühler, Michael (eds.): Technology, Anthropology, and Dimensions of Responsibility, Techno:Phil 1, Stuttgart: Metzler, 2020, 115-132, “Romantische Liebe und die Freiheit zu gehen,” in: Dietz, Simone/Foth, Hannes/Wiertz, Svenja (eds.): Die Freiheit zu gehen. Ausstiegsoptionen in politischen, sozialen und existenziellen Kontexten, Wiesbaden: Springer, 2019, 195-222, “Modus Vivendi and Toleration,” in: Horton, John/Westphal, Manon/Willems, Ulrich (eds.): The Political Theory of Modus Vivendi, Dordrecht: Springer, 2019, 235-253, “Toleranz und/oder Paternalismus im engeren sozialen Nahbereich?,” in: Zeitschrift für Praktische Philosophie 4, 2017, 63–86; and “What if I Cannot Do What I Have to Do? Notions of Personal Practical Necessity and the Principle ‘Ought Implies Can’,” in: Bauer, Katharina/Mieth, Corinna/Varga, Somogy (eds.): Dimensions of Practical Necessity. “Here I Stand. I Can Do No Other,” Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, 87-107.

Veselin L. Mitrović is an Acting Director of the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory at the University of Belgrade. His research activities feature topics in Bioethics, Disaster Study, Sociology of Culture and Social Action in different strata (from marginal to elite). His recent publications include “Ethics and Floods: A Systematic Review.” Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 13/4, 2019, 817-828. “Parent’s Religious and Secular Perspectives on IVF Planning in Serbia,” Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 15/43, Spring 2016, 48-81; “From Global Bioethics to Neuroethics,” ТEMEXL/4, 2016, 1457-1475 (Serbian); “Resilience: detecting vulnerability in marginal groups,” Disaster Prevention and Management 24/2, 2015, 185-200; “The Contingency of the ‘Enhancement’ Arguments: The Possible Transition From Ethical Debate to Social and Political Programs,” Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 13/37, Spring 2014, 93-124; “Ethos of the Elite and Future of Serbia,” Balkanske sinteze 1/1, 2014, 167-189 (Serbian); “Nanotechnologies and Global Survival,” Sociologija LIV/1, 2012, 37-54 (Serbian); “The Myth of Moral Enhancement: Back to the Future?,” Filozofija i društvo XXIII/2, 2012, 111–123 (Serbian); “Human Enhancement: Toward the Creation of Patterns of Injustice?” Zeller, Jörg/Riis, Ole Preben/Nykänen, Hannes (eds.): Issues in Theoretical and Applied Ethics, Aalborg: Aalborg University Press, 2013; “Study,” Sociology in Serbia 1959-2009, Institutional Development, 59-107, (ed.) Marija Bogdanović, (Beograd: Službeni glasnik i Filozofski fakultet Univerzitet u Beogradu, 2009) (Serbian). He is also author of the following books written in Serbian: Apathetic Society (2015); The Stride of Bioethics, New Bio-Technologies and Social Aspects of the “Enhancement” of the Healthy (2012) and Jazz as Socio-Cultural Improvisation – A Qualitative Research of Social Mobility (2012).