Webinar #285 Dr Trevor Stammers - Autonomy - The prince of principles?

Recorded on 19 February 2026 for ICMDA Webinars.Dr Peter Saunders chairs a webinar with Dr Trevor StammersAutonomy has arguably become the ruling ethical principle in contemporary bioethics and clinical decision-making, certainly in Western medicine. In an age of ‘patient-centred care’, everyone is aware of the importance of patient autonomy.But what does autonomy mean conceptually and practically in the complexities of health care systems? What are the different concepts of the meaning of autonomy? Is autonomy a worthy ‘First among equals’ or an over-reaching tyrant? Is there a biblical theology of autonomy and if so, how does it help us to evaluate the current primacy of autonomy in policy decision-making on patient care and services?Trevor Stammers was Associate Professor of Medical Ethics at St Mary's University, Twickenham until retirement in 2021. He is the author of The Ethics of Global Organ Acquisition: Moral arguments about transplantation, published by Bloomsbury in 2023. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠To listen live to future ICMDA webinars visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://icmda.net/resources/webinars/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠