Autonomy vs. Beneficence

Although I missed our class session where we learned about what autonomy means, I was still able to find out and learn to understand what it means. I found an article online Autonomy vs. Beneficence, and it states that autonomy is the “personal rule of the self that is free from both controlling interferences by others and from personal limitations that prevent meaningful choice.” Meaning that autonomy is about an individual’s independence. The article also states that beneficence is, “an action that is done to benefit others.” I learned that autonomy can mean many different things but the one that I understood the most was autonomy having to do with medicine, like in a hospital. It means that not only does autonomy allow patients to make their own decisions; doctors as well have to provide many different options for the patient to choose. Doctors also have to respect the choice of the patient no matter what that may be. Beneficence is something that definitely more understandable in a doctor/medical perspective. Doctors are expected to do whatever they can for their patients, doing so without causing harm. Doctors are supposed to do what they can to help their patients, but they don’t need to fully live up to the exact definition of beneficence, although the goal of medicine is the well-being of their patients. The article also explains that medicine is the most common way to compare the two, autonomy and beneficence because a doctor’s job is to take care of their patients and do what they can to benefit their health. And, patients have the autonomous decision to make independent choices for what their doctor does to help, and treat them. Meaning, as long as the patient makes an autonomous decision, the doctor’s duty is to respect and fulfill the patients decision.

http://missinglink.ucsf.edu/lm/ethics/content%20pages/fast_fact_auton_bene.htm