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The Gettier Problem in informed consent.
1Department of Philosophy, Hebrew University, Mt Scopus, 91905 Jerusalem, Israel. shlomco@mscc.huji.ac.il
Informed consent (IC) in medicine faces challenges similar to the Gettier problem in epistemology. Cases exist where patient decisions are not causally linked to provided information, questioning the definition of valid consent.
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Area of Science:
- Medical Ethics
- Epistemology
Background:
- Informed consent (IC) is a cornerstone of medical and research ethics.
- Key elements of IC include providing relevant information and ensuring free patient decision-making.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore cases of informed consent where patient decisions are not causally linked to the information provided.
- To draw parallels between these cases and the Gettier Problem in epistemology.
- To analyze the implications for the definition and practice of informed consent.
Main Methods:
- Philosophical analysis of informed consent scenarios.
- Analogy drawn from Gettier-type problems in epistemology.
- Conceptual examination of patient autonomy and decision-making.
Main Results:
- Identified cases where free decision-making is disconnected from information provision.
- Demonstrated an indeterminacy in the concept of informed consent, akin to the Gettier problem.
- Highlighted the challenge in defining informed consent when causal links are absent.
Conclusions:
- Current definitions of informed consent may require revision.
- An additional condition of causal connection between information and consent might be necessary.
- Alternatively, the concept of free consent may need redefinition, potentially decoupling it from patient autonomy.