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3 - Why Disorder Matters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2024

Cressida Auckland
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
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Summary

Where the real basis for finding someone to lack capacity is that you consider the beliefs or values that motivate their decision to be distorted by a mental illness, such that the decision is not authentically desired and so is unworthy of respect, this entails a number of empirical and normative claims. This chapter will interrogate these claims by reference to the wide-ranging literature on the nature of mental disorder, and on differing conceptions of autonomy and authenticity (as a component of autonomous decision-making). It will be concluded that while an agent acting on the basis of disordered beliefs or values will often be acting inauthentically (and thus non-autonomously), this will not always be the case, and situations could arise in which there is reason to believe that the agent would endorse or sanction their belief, even knowing it is derived from illness. Moreover, once the shaky conceptual ground on which such judgements must be made is acknowledged, it becomes essential that these judgements are brought out into the open, where they can be subject to appropriate scrutiny.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • Why Disorder Matters
  • Cressida Auckland, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Book: Values and Disorder in Mental Capacity Law
  • Online publication: 25 October 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009482080.006
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  • Why Disorder Matters
  • Cressida Auckland, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Book: Values and Disorder in Mental Capacity Law
  • Online publication: 25 October 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009482080.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Why Disorder Matters
  • Cressida Auckland, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Book: Values and Disorder in Mental Capacity Law
  • Online publication: 25 October 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009482080.006
Available formats
×