同意の倫理(<特集>病とは何か・癒しとは何か インフォームド・コンセントとは何か)

抄録

The concept "consent" and "同意-doi" in the concept of the informed consent are discussed. Studying this point may constitute one of the angles from which to clarify the question, "What is informed consent ? " Firstly, the words "consent" and "同意" were each studied as to their meaning. By showing the connotation and denotation of the "同意" first and then the connotation and denotation of the "consent, we clarified the difference between the "同意" and "consent" and something in common with each other. The word "同意" in Japanese has diverse meanings and ambiguity and is often used in ways far removed from its original meaning. It has less of the "positivity" and "directivity toward others" inherent in the word "consent". In this respect, the word "同意" is rather close to "assent" that is of sensitivity admitting no reason. Secondly, the "同意" is a thing that arises in relationships between people, so the personal relations in which the "同意" is effected were studied. Japanese essentially give more precedence to the personal relations than to the self. This could give rise to the "同意 against one's will" and "the '同意' not with the substance of the issue but with the other party". In short, the meaning of the "同意" is primarily based on the other person being Japanese and is acceptable only in that context. In thinking about what informed consent is, all arguments will lose sight of the direction, if no thought is given to the original meaning of the word, culture that gave rise to that word and characteristics of the place from where that word was imported.