Some reflections on the problem of advance directives, personhood, and personal identity
pp. 265-277
in: , Personhood and health care, Berlin, Springer, 2001Abstract
Following U.S. Justice Benjamin Cardozo's declaration in 1914 that "Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body" (Schloendorffv. Society of New York Hospital 1914), societies have, their institutions and laws, increasingly recognized that there is no absolute obligation to preserve and prolong life. Rather, there is no widespread agreement that competent and informed patients have a moral and legal right to refuse unwanted medical treatment, including life-sustaining treatment, for themselves. It is also widely assumed that this right can be extended into the future by way of advance directives, such as living wills and proxy directives. A living will allows a competent person to specify that she does not, when incompetent, wish to receive certain medical treatments, and a proxy directive allows her to appoint an agent or proxy who will be able to make treatment decisions for her should accident or illness render her incompetent.