0
    Workshop and lecture on decision-making capacity by Louis C. Charland
  1. 5Dec.2018
    Bochum

    On December 5, Louis C. Charland will give a workshop at the Institute for Medical Ethics and History of Medicine and a lecture at the LWL University Hospital of the Ruhr University Bochum. Louis Charland is Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario and he is author of the Stanford Encyclopedia article on decision-making capacity. Abstracts can be found below.

    Attendance is free. Registration for the lecture is not required. To register for the workshop, please send a short message to bochum-salus-project@rub.de.

    These events are organized by the BMBF research group SALUS (https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/malakow/ethic_psych/projekte/index.html.en#SALUS). The SALUS group is sponsored by the German Ministry of Education and Research.

    1. 10001200
      Markstraße 258a
      Institute for Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, Ruhr University Bochum
      Seminar room on the 7th floor
      Workshop
      Louis C. Charland
      Decision-Making Capacity and Informed Consent: A Role for Emotions

      Decision-Making Capacity and Informed Consent: A Role for Emotions

      Theories of informed consent, and in particular the element of decision-making capacity in informed consent, tend to be framed in cognitive terms. When emotions are considered, they are only recognized in terms of their negative contribution to consent and capacity: how they interfere, compromise, or impair consent. However, this negative portrayal of emotions as ‘enemies of reason’ and impairments of cognition can be argued to be clinically inaccurate as emotions also figure positively in human decision-making and deliberation. What positive role then could emotions play in consent and could emotion even be necessary for valid consent?

    2. 16001730
      Lecture
      Louis C. Charland
      Loss of Control and Addiction

      Loss of Control and Addiction

      Loss of control is a defining feature of many leading contemporary theories of addiction. However, on close analysis, the concept proves to be very elusive. Few clinical scientists seem to openly admit that loss of control occurs outside of episodes of intoxication and withdrawal, and to date clinical research on the topic has been virtually nil. On their side, philosophers and social critics often deny that there is ever any true or final loss of control in addiction, arguing it is ultimately a ‘choice’. What role then is there for the concept of loss of control in addiction beyond intoxication and withdrawal? Research on the role of decision-making capacity in informed consent offers some interesting suggestions how to approach this question.