Coerced Consent with an Unknown Future*. (17th August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dougherty, Tom
• Is Part Of: Philosophy and phenomenological research. Volume 103:Number 2(2021)
• Page Start: 441
• Page End: 461
• Publication Date: 2020-08-17
• Subjects: Philosophy -- Periodicals; Phenomenology -- Periodicals; 100
• DOI: 10.1111/phpr.12718
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0031-8205

Abstract

Abstract: It is hard enough giving an account of how coercion undermines the consent of someone who knows full well the consequences of her choices. But in the wild, coerced consent is even more ethically complex because people are often unsure or misled about what will happen if they refuse to consent. In this essay, I discuss how coercion can invalidate consent under conditions of imperfect information. To explain how consent is invalidated in this way, I argue for the "Subjective Principle." According to this principle, a sufficient condition for the invalidity of consent is that the consent‐giver either believes or has a credence that they would suffer a penalty for refusing to consent, this penalty is illegitimate, and this belief or credence causes them to consent.