Waiver or understanding? A dilemma for autonomists about informed consent
This paper develops a novel argument to show that prospective research subjects can validly consent to participate in a study without understanding (most of) the content of the required disclosure. Its point of departure is the right subjects standardly have to waive (most of) the investigator’s duty to disclose. Things get worse for autonomy based defences of informed consent because this right to waive is very well grounded in an individual’s autonomy.

Professor Gopal Sreenivasan (Crown University Distinguished Professor in Ethics, Duke University)
Professor Sreenivasan’s research interests cover a wide range of topics across the whole spectrum of moral and political philosophy. Hot off the press, his new book Emotion and Virtue (Princeton, 2020) makes original contributions in both moral psychology and the theory of virtue.
Date: 3 June 2021, 12:30 (Thursday, 6th week, Trinity 2021)
Venue: Venue to be announced
Speaker: Professor Gopal Sreenivasan (Duke University)
Organising department: Faculty of Theology and Religion
Host: Rachel Gaminiratne (The Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics)
Part of: New St Cross Special Ethics Seminar
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9lL04zxySi2MWSzHP0YY4Q
Audience: Public
Editor: Frances Roach