Varelius J
Department of Philosophy, University of Turku, Turku, 20014, Finland.
Med Health Care Philos. 2006;9(1):117-25. doi: 10.1007/s11019-005-3436-4.
A moral problem arises when a patient refuses a treatment that would save her life. Should the patient be treated against her will? According to an influential approach to questions of biomedical ethics, certain considerations pertaining to individual autonomy provide a solution to this problem. According to this approach, we should respect the patient's autonomy and, since she has made an autonomous decision against accepting the treatment, she should not be treated. This article argues against the view that our answer to the question of whether or not the refusing patient ought to be treated should be based on these kinds of considerations pertaining to individual autonomy and maintains that finding a plausible answer to this question presupposes that we resolve questions concerning subjectivity and objectivity of individual wellbeing.
当患者拒绝接受能挽救其生命的治疗时，就会出现一个道德问题。是否应该违背患者意愿对其进行治疗？根据一种有影响力的生物医学伦理问题处理方法，某些与个人自主性相关的考量为这个问题提供了解决方案。按照这种方法，我们应该尊重患者的自主性，而且既然她已经自主做出了拒绝接受治疗的决定，就不应该对她进行治疗。本文反对这样一种观点，即我们对于是否应该治疗拒绝治疗的患者这一问题的答案应该基于这类与个人自主性相关的考量，并坚持认为要找到这个问题的合理答案，前提是我们要解决有关个人幸福的主观性和客观性的问题。
