Beyond individual autonomy: relational dimensions of the right not to know

This paper critically engages Jasper Debrabander’s defence of the right not to know in the context of incidental findings. Although Debrabander reinforces the autonomy-based justification of this right against more demanding autonomy theories, his analysis remains grounded in an individualistic conception of the autonomous subject. I contend that this perspective is conceptually insufficient, as it fails to account for the relational dimensions of autonomy and its implications for the right not to know. Drawing on relational accounts of personhood, the paper develops a relational conception of autonomy and examines its consequences for disclosure decisions. It argues that such decisions reshape the relational conditions within which autonomy itself is formed and exercised—and why this dimension cannot be neglected in discussions of incidental findings and the right not to know.