Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Unity-Druid OP t1_iyrvb4h wrote

This is a thought experiment I wrote to encourage discussion of ethical issues in medical science, particularly in the field of psychiatry in the treatment of personality disorders. I have worked in this field in different capacities of direct patient care for years now, and will for the rest of my life, so I feel my development of this thought experiment is based on genuine ethical issues I have observed.

The 9 analysis questions following the thought experiment relate to Ethics of Medicine, as well as Philosophy of Science topics such as theories of mind.

This thought experiment intends to argue that novel conceptual frameworks in the theory of mind are needed to understand the experience of mental illness, before sound ethical decisions can be made.

I hope this is appropriate for submission to this sub, but if not, please let me know, and I'll remove it.

67

sully9088 t1_iytknjv wrote

Do you really think we will ever be able to truly understand the complexities of the human mind in a way that we can honestly withhold certain treatment in an ethical way? Even if the client appears to have the capacity to understand the risks?

18

Unity-Druid OP t1_iytrrg0 wrote

No matter how well we understand neuroscience, I imagine conscious inner privacy will remain an ethical issue for a very long time. I cannot directly access another person’s consciousness, I cannot know for myself what the experience they are having feels like to have. I can only infer things about their experience from various sources of data. If some quantum-informational theories of consciousness are correct, inner privacy may be a fundamental law of information in the universe, so I think this issue will remain salient for quite a while.

22

[deleted] t1_iyuv12j wrote

Development in AIs might very well produce just such a result.

3