Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Dec 29;12(1):11.
doi: 10.1186/s13010-017-0053-9.

The ethical relevance of the unconscious

Michele Farisco  1   2   3 , Kathinka Evers  4   5
Affiliations
Review

The ethical relevance of the unconscious

Michele Farisco et al. Philos Ethics Humanit Med. .

Abstract

Background: Ethical analyses of disorders of consciousness traditionally focus on residual awareness. Going one step further, this paper explores the potential ethical relevance of the unawareness retained by patients with disorders of consciousness, focusing specifically on the ethical implications of the description of the unconscious provided by recent scientific research.

Methods: A conceptual methodology is used, based on the review and analysis of relevant scientific literature on the unconscious and the logical argumentation in favour of the ethical conclusions.

Results: Two conditions (experiential wellbeing and having interests) that are generally considered critical components in the ethical discussion of patients with disorders of consciousness might arguably be both conscious and unconscious.

Conclusions: The unconscious, as well as consciousness, should be taken into account in the ethical discussions of patients with disorders of consciousness.

Keywords: Brain; Consciousness; Disorders of consciousness; Ethics; Neuroethics; The unconscious.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This manuscript does not report data collected from humans or animals.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Farisco M, Laureys S, Evers K. The intrinsic activity of the brain and its relation to levels and disorders of consciousness. Mind and Matter. In press.
    1. LeDoux JE. The emotional brain: the mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. 1st Touchstone ed. New York: Simon & Schuster; 1998.
    1. Laureys S. Un si brillant cerveau. Les états limites de consciences. Odile Jacob. 2015.
    1. Bruno MA, Vanhaudenhuyse A, Thibaut A, Moonen G, Laureys S. From unresponsive wakefulness to minimally conscious PLUS and functional locked-in syndromes: recent advances in our understanding of disorders of consciousness. J Neurol. 2011;258(7):1373–1384. doi: 10.1007/s00415-011-6114-x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Giacino JT, Fins JJ, Laureys S, Schiff ND. Disorders of consciousness after acquired brain injury: the state of the science. Nat Rev Neurol. 2014;10(2):99–114. doi: 10.1038/nrneurol.2013.279. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources