Towards a Better Understanding of Coercion in Biomedical Ethics

The aim of this project is to provide a first step towards the development of a better understanding of coercion in the context of biomedical ethics. The topic of coercion has a long history in biomedical ethics, political philosophy, and legal theory. Perhaps not surprisingly, this literature is rife with disagreement, largely concerning both the definition of coercion and the justification of its use in various forms. This project will address the former question, as the more pressing normative questions can only be resolved with a relatively robust conceptual understanding in place. This will require a critical reappraisal of past philosophical efforts while also taking into account newer methodological approaches, including relevant empirical findings from the social sciences.