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Respect for persons and the allocation of lifesaving healthcare resources
Symons, Xavier
Symons, Xavier
Author
Abstract
Many ethicists argue that we should respect persons when we distribute resources. Yet it is unclear what this means in practice. For some, the idea of respect for persons is synonymous with the idea of respect for autonomy. Yet a principle of respect for autonomy provides limited guidance for how we should distribute scarce medical interventions. In this article, however, I sketch an alternative conception of respect for persons—one that is based on an ethic of mutual accountability. I draw in particular upon Stephen Darwall’s writings on respect and the second-person standpoint. I consider the implications of this conception of respect for the distribution of scarce, lifesaving healthcare resources. A second-personal account of respect rules out aggregative approaches to distribution, and instead requires that we give individual consideration to the claims that persons in need make on the resources in our control. The principles that we use to govern our allocation of resources, furthermore, should be principles that are acceptable to all reasonable agents. Building on this insight, the final section of this paper considers how a principle of need can be used as a means to make decisions about the allocation of lifesaving resources.
Keywords
contractualism, resource allocation, respect, respect for persons, Stephen Darwall, utilitarianism
Date
2021
Type
Journal article
Journal
Bioethics
Book
Volume
35
Issue
5
Page Range
392-399
Article Number
ACU Department
Plunkett Centre for Ethics
Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
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Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled