The Practice of Autonomy

noted in JAMA February 16, 2000"...the most comprehensive, organized summary and analysis to date of the quantitative and qualitative empirical research on the actual process of medical decision making....a scholarly, insightful rejection of the contemporary bioethical wisdom that the making of complex medical decisions can be reduced to a single, uniform, legally enforcable model....Schneider supports the principle of patient autonomy. But at the same time, he effectively deflates its mostunrealistic, and arguably undesirable, pretensions. He sums up his work by observing that 'informing our bioethical thinking with an understanding of how the world works will richly reward the effort.'His intended audience of physicians, bioethicists, attorneys, and social scientists should agree strongly with this assessment."---The New England Journal of Medicinenoted in Micigan Law Review May 1999"The book is a gold mine of surprising insights into patient needs, medicine, and physician-patient relationships- which alone justifies it purchase."--Religious Studies ReviewHis work will enrich the ongoing debate and that, one hopes, will lead to a clearer statement of law, ethics, and publicpolicy on both the principles and the practice of autonomyand the matter of consent to treatment generally. This is a book that even those who think they know autonomy and consent to treatment inside and outwill find worth reading.--he Journal of Legal Medicine"This book raises important questions about the relationship between ethical theory and daily practice. Schneider's critical exploration of both the principle of autonomy and the clinical practice will inspire bioethicists and lawyers as well as all professionals who work with patients." -- Bert Molewijk, Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy: A European Journal 3: 2000

• 1. The Autonomy Paradigm ; 2. Patients' Preferences About Autonomy: The Empirical Evidence ; 3. The Reluctant Patient: Can Abjuring Autonomy Make Sense? ; 4. How Can They Think That: Of Information, Control, and Complexity ; 5. Reconsidering Autonomy: Evaluating the Arguments For Mandatory Autonomy ; 6. Beyond The Reluctant Patient: Autonomy in New Times