The principle of respect for patient autonomy and the right of self-determination dominate medical decision-making in developed countries. The concept of prospective autonomy proposes that personal choices ought to inform healthcare decisions for decisionallyincapacitated patients. Such extension of patient’s autonomy is accomplished through advance directive and surrogate decisionmaking; patie...

OBJECTIVE Our experiences, attributes, and behaviors are diverse, inconsistent, and often negative. Consequently, our capacity to assimilate divergent experiences-particularly negative aspects-is important to the development of a unified self. Whereas this process of integration has received attention at the level of personal identity, it has not been assessed at the level of group identity. ...

This paper grapples with the issue of naked statistical evidence in general and reference class problem (RCP) particular. By analysing reasoning patterns underlying RCP, I will show, first, that RCP rests on theoretical presuppositions which we are by no means willing to accept. Such a presupposition is wholesale approach decision-making. Secondly, show very effort increase level precision maxi...

The successful integration and acceptance of many multi-agent systems into daily lives crucially depends on the ability to develop effective policies for adjustable autonomy. Adjustable autonomy encompasses the strategies by which an agent selects the appropriate entity (itself, a human user, or another agent) to make a decision at key moments when an action is required. We present two formulat...

Ethnic minority status and female gender convey a risk for suicidal behavior, yet research of suicidality of ethnic minority female immigrants is scarce. The authors of this article conducted qualitative interviews with 15 young women (of four ethnicities) in the Netherlands, who either had attempted suicide or contemplated suicide, and analyzed these in a narrative psychology tradition. Suicid...

OBJECTIVE To assess personal autonomy of long-stay psychiatric inpatients, to identify those patients who could be discharged and to evaluate the impact of sociodemographic variables, social functioning, and physical disabilities on their autonomy was also assessed. METHODS A total of 584 long-stay individuals of a psychiatric hospital (96% of the hospital population) in Southern Brazil was a...

Neuroscientific research on the removal of unpleasant and traumatic memories is still at a very early stage, but is making rapid progress and has stirred a significant philosophical and neuroethical debate. Even if memory is considered to be a fundamental element of personal identity, in the context of memory-erasing the autonomy of decision-making seems prevailing. However, there seem to be si...