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The Ethics of Autonomy and Dignity in Long-Term Care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Daryl Pullman
Daryl Pullman
Affiliation:
Memorial University of Newfoundland
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Abstract

Efforts to address the “paradox of autonomy in long-term care” attempt to salvage an ethic of autonomy by redefining the central concept, and then applying it to the long-term care environment. Such attempts are critiqued, and an alternative ethic of dignity for long-term care is developed. Autonomy, it is argued, is crucial to certain aspects of dignity, but should not be confused with the whole of it. Indeed, long after the capacity for autonomy has diminished or vanished, basic dignity continues to exert normative force.

Résumé

Les tentatives visant à aborder le «paradoxe de l'autonomie dans le domaine des soins de longue durée» tentent de sauver une éthique de l'autonomie en donnant une nouvelle définition à cette éthique et en essayant de l'appliquer au contexte des soins de longue durée. L'auteur critique ces tentatives et propose une autre façon d'aborder ces problèmes: l'éthique de la dignité. Il est soutenu que l'autonomie est fondamentale à certains aspects de la dignité, mais qu'elle ne doit pas être confondue avec celle-ci. En effet, bien après que l'autonomie ait été compromise ou même lorsqu'elle a cessé d'exister, la dignité humaine de base maintient son pouvoir normatif.

Keywords

AutonomyDignityEthicsPaternalism.Autonomiedignitééthiquepaternalisme.
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , printemps/Spring 1999 , pp. 26 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1999

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