Abstract
Autonomy is a central principle in bioethics and research ethics. In this essay, a historical account of the moral and philosophical foundations for the principle of autonomy and its conceptualization in bioethical discourse is presented. An explanation on the application of autonomy in clinical practice and biomedical research by contextualizing it within a global bioethical framework is provided because the assumption of autonomy is that each person has the right and capacity to make her or his own decisions about medical procedures, treatment, and biomedical research. An examination of the challenges in the universality of the ethical concept of autonomy in bioethics is highlighted. The essay concludes with a summary of the major discussion points on autonomy.
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Further Readings
Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (1994b). Principles of biomedical ethics. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kushe, H., & Singer, P. (2013b). A companion to bioethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mappes, T., & De Grazia, D. (2005). Biomedical ethics. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
O’Neill,O. (2002b). Autonomy and trust in bioethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Manda-Taylor, L., Masiye, F., Mfutso-Bengo, J. (2015). Autonomy. In: ten Have, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_460-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_460-1
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