Moral obligations and consent

Abstract

In this chapter, I examine the effects consent has on our moral obligations. In particular, I address three questions: (1) Whose obligations are affected by a person’s consent? It is uncontroversial that consent changes the normative situation of the agent to whom it is given. But can it also create a new obligation for the person giving it? (2) Which obligations are affected by consent? Consent makes a difference to whether or not an action constitutes a breach for some moral obligations but not for others. Here, I survey the moral obligations that are most often thought to be consent-sensitive in this sense. (3) Why does a person’s consent sometimes ensure that an action no longer breaches an obligation? I distinguish three answers to this question and discuss their implications for determining the scope of our ability to consent.