Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T12:15:30.427Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 3 - Personhood, Identity and Autonomy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2022

Mathieu Vandenbulcke
Affiliation:
KU Leuven, Belgium
Rose-Marie Dröes
Affiliation:
Amsterdam University Medical Centre
Erik Schokkaert
Affiliation:
KU Leuven, Belgium
Get access

Summary

Words don't mean what we want them to mean. Concepts can be used in an improper way. In this chapter we examine how concepts such as 'self', 'identity', 'person', 'autonomy' and 'respect' are used in the context of discussions about what happens to a person with dementia. What emerges from this concept clarification is that we are more often tempted by unwarranted dualistic presuppositions than we realize; that the context in which a person can be an autonomous person presupposes intersubjective involvement; that when an individual can no longer participate in an intersubjective common understanding it has pernicious consequences for their autonomy, but that respect for the dignity of a human individual transcends this kind of participation. The exposition is complemented by an analysis of the legal handling of the concepts discussed.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Kitwood, T. Dementia Reconsidered: The Person Comes First. Buckingham, Open University Press, 1997.Google Scholar
Hagberg, B. The dementias in a psychodynamic perspective. In Miesen, B, Jones, G, eds. Care-Giving in Dementia: Research and Applications. London/New York: Routledge, 1997; 2.14: 1435.Google Scholar
Miesen, B. Alzheimer’s disease, the phenomenon of parent fixation and Bowlby’s attachment theory. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 1993; 8(2): 147–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol, Article 3, a.Google Scholar
Post, SG. The Moral Challenge of Alzheimer’s Disease. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995.Google Scholar
Hacker, PMS. Human Nature: The Categorical Framework. Oxford, Blackwell, 2007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cottingham, J. Cartesian trialism (repr.). In his Cartesian Reflections. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008.Google Scholar
Goffman, E. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York, Doubleday, 1959; Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Saddle River, NJ, Upper Prentice-Hall, 1963.Google Scholar
Goffman, E. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. New York, Harper & Row, 1974.Google Scholar
Winnicott, DW. Playing and Reality. London, Tavistock, 1971.Google Scholar
Trendelenburg, A. A contribution to the history of the word person. The Monist 1910; 20: 336–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kant, I. The Metaphysics of Morals, ed. Gregor, M.. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Strawson, P. Freedom and resentment. Proceedings of the British Academy 1962; 48: 125.Google Scholar
Singer, P. Animal Rights. New York, HarperCollins, 1975.Google Scholar
Brooker, D. What is person centred-care in dementia? Reviews in Clinical Gerontology 2004; 13: 215–22.Google Scholar
Mitchell, G, Agnelli, J. Person-centred care for people with dementia: Kitwood reconsidered. Nursing Standard 2015; 30(7): 4650.Google Scholar
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN, Paris 10 December 1948, General Assembly, Resolution 217 A.Google Scholar
Glendon, MA. A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. New York, Random House, 2001; Preface.Google Scholar
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN, Article 16, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted 16 December 1966, General Assembly Resolution 2200 A.Google Scholar
Langlois, AJ. Human rights universalism. In Hayden, P, ed. The Ashgate Research Companion to Ethics and International Relations. London and New York, Routledge, 2019, Chapter 12, p. 201.Google Scholar
Quinn, G, Arstein-Kerslake, A. Restoring the ‘human’ in ‘human rights’: Personhood and doctrinal innovation in the UN disability convention. In Gearty, C, Douzinas, C, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Human Rights Law. Cambridge Companions to Law. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2012; 3655.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arstein-Kerslake, A. Restoring Voice to People with Cognitive Disabilities. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2017; 23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Bueren, G. The International Law on the Rights of the Child. Leiden, Martinus Nijhoff, 1998; 118.Google Scholar
Marshall, J. Human Rights Law and Personal Identity. Abingdon and New York, Routledge, 2014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziegler, K., Human Rights and Private Law: Privacy As Autonomy. London, Bloomsbury, 2007; 38.Google Scholar
IACtHR. Cuadernillo de Jurisprudencia de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, p. 31.Google Scholar
IACtHR. Case ‘Instituto de Reeducación del Menor’ Vs. Paraguay. Excepciones Preliminares, Fondo, Reparaciones y Costas. 2 September 2004. Serie C No. 112, par. 147.Google Scholar
Herring, J. Law and the Relational Self. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2019.Google Scholar
Lornellino, P. Community Autonomy and Informed Consent. Cambridge, Cambridge Scholars, 2015.Google Scholar
Herring, J. Relation Autonomy and Family Law. Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht and London, Springer, 2014.Google Scholar
Nedelsky, J. Law’s Relations: A Relational Theory of Self, Autonomy and the Law. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011.Google Scholar
Mackenzie, C, Stoljar, N. Relational Autonomy: Feminist Perspectives on Autonomy, Agency and the Social Self. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aquilina, C, Hughes, JC. The return of the living dead: Agency lost and found? In Hughes, JC, Louw, SJ, Sabat, SR, eds. Dementia: Mind, Meaning and the Person. New York, Oxford University Press, 2006; 143–61.Google Scholar
Lesser, AH. Dementia and personal identity. In Hughes, JC, Louw, SJ, Sabat, SR, eds. Dementia: Mind, Meaning and the Person. New York, Oxford University Press, 2006; 5561.Google Scholar
Dröes, RM. In Beweging; over psychosociale hulpverlening aan demente ouderen. Academic thesis. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Intro, Nijkerk, 1991.Google Scholar
Dröes, RM, Van Mierlo, LD, Meiland, FJM, Van der Roest, HG. Memory problems in dementia: Adaptation and coping strategies, and psychosocial treatments. Expert Reviews Neurotherapeutics 2011; 11(12): 1769–82.Google Scholar
Samson, A, Siam, H. Adapting to major chronic illness: A proposal for a comprehensive task-model approach. Patient Educ Couns. 2008 Mar; 70(3): 426–9. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2007.10.018. Epub. 2007 Dec. 21. PMID: 18096353CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van der Wulp, JC. Verstoring en verwerking in verpleeghuizen; belevingswereld en conflicten van hen die hun verdere leven in een verpleeghuis doorbrengen. Academic thesis. Universiteit Utrecht, Intro, Nijkerk, 1986.Google Scholar
Moos, RH, Tsu, VD. The crisis of physical illness: An overview. In Moos, RH, ed. Coping with Physical Illness: Current Topics in Mental Health. Boston, Springer, 1977. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2256-6_1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaebel, W, Jessen, F, Kanba, S. Neurocognitive disorders in ICD-11: The debate and its outcome. World Psychiatry 2018 Jun; 17(2): 229–30.Google Scholar
Werner, P. Stigma and Alzheimer’s disease: A systematic review of evidence, theory, and methods. In Corrigan, PW, ed. The Stigma of Disease and Disability: Understanding Causes and Overcoming Injustices. Washington, DC, American Psychological Association, 2014; 223–44.Google Scholar
Langdon, SA, Eagle, A, Warner, J. Making sense of dementia in the social world: A qualitative study. Social Science & Medicine 2007; 64(4): 9891000.Google Scholar
Lion, KM, Szcześniak, D, Bulińska, K, Evans, SB, Evans, SC, Saibene, FL, … Rymaszewska, J. Do people with dementia and mild cognitive impairments experience stigma? A cross-cultural investigation between Italy, Poland and the UK. Aging & Mental Health 2020; 24: 6947–55. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2019.1577799CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holst, G, Hallberg, IR. Exploring the meaning of everyday life for those suffering from dementia. American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias 2003; 18(6): 359–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×