| Title |
The relative importance of undesirable truths
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, November 2012
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s11019-012-9449-x |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Lisa Bortolotti |
| Abstract |
The right not to know is often defended on the basis of the principle of respect for personal autonomy. If I choose not to acquire personal information that impacts on my future prospects, such a choice should be respected, because I should be able to decide whether to access information about myself and how to use it. But, according to the incoherence objection to the right not to know in the context of genetic testing, the choice not to acquire genetic information undermines the capacity for autonomous decision making. The claim is that it is incoherent to defend a choice that is inimical to autonomy by appealing to autonomy. In this paper, I suggest that the choice not to know in the context of genetic testing does not undermine self-authorship, which is a key aspect of autonomous decision making. In the light of this, the incoherence objection to the right not to know seems less compelling. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 9 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 6 | 67% |
| Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of | 1 | 11% |
| Unknown | 2 | 22% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 7 | 78% |
| Scientists | 1 | 11% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 11% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 21 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 1 | 5% |
| Unknown | 20 | 95% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 3 | 14% |
| Researcher | 3 | 14% |
| Student > Master | 3 | 14% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 2 | 10% |
| Student > Bachelor | 2 | 10% |
| Other | 4 | 19% |
| Unknown | 4 | 19% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Philosophy | 4 | 19% |
| Computer Science | 2 | 10% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 2 | 10% |
| Social Sciences | 2 | 10% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 1 | 5% |
| Other | 4 | 19% |
| Unknown | 6 | 29% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 6. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 23 November 2012.
All research outputs
#6,088,316
of 24,837,507 outputs
Outputs from Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy
#153
of 617 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#58,711
of 287,571 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy
#2
of 9 outputs
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So far Altmetric has tracked 617 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 8.3. This one has done well, scoring higher than 75% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 9 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than 7 of them.