Communication and consent in research and clinical practice: a conceptual analysis

Abstract

The devices of communication and consent are important tools in research and clinical practice. They therefore have an important moral dimension in bioethics, as they are structured by the dialectic between the conflict inherent to the ethos and attempts to establish convergences within the same. These convergences
can appear as modalities of attempts at harmony between the parties involved (as suggested by Maliandi), or, more simply, as a way for moral agents to obtain permission (as suggested by Engelhardt) to use the bodies of moral patients. This article proposes a conceptual analysis of such devices, considering such an analysis
a necessary condition to approach the morality of research practices involving human beings and clinical practice, involving moral agents and moral patients.