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Bioethics: Bioethics: Ancient Themes in Contemporary Issues

Bioethics: Bioethics: Ancient Themes in Contemporary Issues Bioethics: Ancient Themes in Contemporary Issues encourages the reader to formulate prudent concepts of ethical issues and apply them in the public arena. A pint-sized book, it is a behemoth of accurate, precisely edited, and efficiently presented information. The term bioethics as used applies to ethical considerations of life and health not only in medicine but also in other aspects of human culture such as politics, economics, and community. These sometimes opaque concepts merit profound contemplation and an enlightened dialogue between ancient and modern philosophies. Each of the 12 essays in this book is accompanied by quality footnotes and numerous references to other sources of information. The 12-page index is helpful, and the minibiographies of the contributing authors, a blue ribbon panel of experts in the field of bioethics, are quite useful. Classical philosophy provides a hereditary spice to our thinking, having evolved from individual logic before dogmatism established supposedly indubitable starting points. Although not necessarily contradictory, ideas springing from free inquiry are invaluable in determining the moral implications of new biological discoveries. "This idea of respecting a person's right to make decisions about health care based on his or her value system has been the linchpin of contemporary bioethics," writes Tod Chambers. Postmodernism challenges the effectiveness of shared morality as the standard of human virtue and, in its place, promotes the establishment of one's own plan for a moral life. For most of us, this is not so easy, as David C. Thomasma remarks: "In the absence of a generally accepted notion of the Good, pursuit of one's own plan is incredibly difficult to achieve." A medical education saturated in science may be deficient in dealing with the relationship of medicine to economic and political consequences of ethical decision making. The diagnosis and treatment of sick people will never become simply the application of science. What the Greeks called phronesis, the clinical judgment that enables physicians to act wisely and for the good of their patients, lies at the heart of ethical decision making and will always be necessary to curb the uncertainties of medicine. Phronesis—clinical judgment—like physical fitness, requires practice, constant upgrading, and development of one's own standards, values, and norms to deal with the unpredictable features of human nature. Experience, both our own and others', enables us to do the right things and the wrong things in life, and learn from them. Greek philosophers considered the craft of medicine subordinate to the community at large. In passages from The Republic, Plato proposed that in his ideal city the founders would legislate for the kind of medicine that would look after those naturally well endowed in body and soul. Aristotle echoed Plato's words by enjoining "that deliberation about terminating life is primarily an ethical and political deliberation" (noted by Georgios Anagnastopoulos). One might argue that the status of ancient practitioners was quite different from that of the modern physician. Daryl M. Tress writes, "In ancient medicine, there was no licensure, no organized profession, no readily identifiable expert mainstream in contrast to which other forms of healing were automatically viewed as suspect." Lacking a concept of infection, Greek physicians were called on for prognosis and had relatively little to offer in the way of diagnosis or specific therapy. Despite the unprecedented expansion of technology in the last century, we still live with political and economic supervision of what many physicians would like to consider purely medical decisions. Mark G. Kuczewski in his essay on communitarianism looks to the future, in which the "interminable shrill debates that characterize the public discourse in our society" can be mellowed by coming together to determine our fundamental values and benefit from the knowledge, experience, and vantage point of our neighbors. Interpersonal encounter is a method of reaching out to acquire moral truth through mutual self-discovery. Other essays promoting the benefits of mutual sharing of ideas and doctrines might be found in The Biophilia Hypothesis, edited by Stephen R. Kellert and Edward O. Wilson (Island Press/Shedwater Books, 1993) and Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, by Edward O. Wilson (Alfred A Knopf, 1998). Kuczewski acknowledges that such a coming together would be difficult to make operational. Bioethics: Ancient Themes in Contemporary Issues is a starting point for such a project and would be worthwhile reading for anyone who yearns for a society willing to use rational consideration in dealing with supposedly intractable issues. You will not find preformed answers, but rather, one hopes, keys to open padlocks on your own ideas, thoughts, and convictions. Acknowledgment: Naomi Block, MA, associate professor of philosophy, retired, at SUNY, Purchase, NY, provided helpful advice. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png JAMA American Medical Association

Bioethics: Bioethics: Ancient Themes in Contemporary Issues

JAMA , Volume 285 (24) – Jun 27, 2001
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Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright © 2001 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
0098-7484
eISSN
1538-3598
DOI
10.1001/jama.285.24.3149-JBK0627-4-1
Publisher site
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Abstract

Bioethics: Ancient Themes in Contemporary Issues encourages the reader to formulate prudent concepts of ethical issues and apply them in the public arena. A pint-sized book, it is a behemoth of accurate, precisely edited, and efficiently presented information. The term bioethics as used applies to ethical considerations of life and health not only in medicine but also in other aspects of human culture such as politics, economics, and community. These sometimes opaque concepts merit profound contemplation and an enlightened dialogue between ancient and modern philosophies. Each of the 12 essays in this book is accompanied by quality footnotes and numerous references to other sources of information. The 12-page index is helpful, and the minibiographies of the contributing authors, a blue ribbon panel of experts in the field of bioethics, are quite useful. Classical philosophy provides a hereditary spice to our thinking, having evolved from individual logic before dogmatism established supposedly indubitable starting points. Although not necessarily contradictory, ideas springing from free inquiry are invaluable in determining the moral implications of new biological discoveries. "This idea of respecting a person's right to make decisions about health care based on his or her value system has been the linchpin of contemporary bioethics," writes Tod Chambers. Postmodernism challenges the effectiveness of shared morality as the standard of human virtue and, in its place, promotes the establishment of one's own plan for a moral life. For most of us, this is not so easy, as David C. Thomasma remarks: "In the absence of a generally accepted notion of the Good, pursuit of one's own plan is incredibly difficult to achieve." A medical education saturated in science may be deficient in dealing with the relationship of medicine to economic and political consequences of ethical decision making. The diagnosis and treatment of sick people will never become simply the application of science. What the Greeks called phronesis, the clinical judgment that enables physicians to act wisely and for the good of their patients, lies at the heart of ethical decision making and will always be necessary to curb the uncertainties of medicine. Phronesis—clinical judgment—like physical fitness, requires practice, constant upgrading, and development of one's own standards, values, and norms to deal with the unpredictable features of human nature. Experience, both our own and others', enables us to do the right things and the wrong things in life, and learn from them. Greek philosophers considered the craft of medicine subordinate to the community at large. In passages from The Republic, Plato proposed that in his ideal city the founders would legislate for the kind of medicine that would look after those naturally well endowed in body and soul. Aristotle echoed Plato's words by enjoining "that deliberation about terminating life is primarily an ethical and political deliberation" (noted by Georgios Anagnastopoulos). One might argue that the status of ancient practitioners was quite different from that of the modern physician. Daryl M. Tress writes, "In ancient medicine, there was no licensure, no organized profession, no readily identifiable expert mainstream in contrast to which other forms of healing were automatically viewed as suspect." Lacking a concept of infection, Greek physicians were called on for prognosis and had relatively little to offer in the way of diagnosis or specific therapy. Despite the unprecedented expansion of technology in the last century, we still live with political and economic supervision of what many physicians would like to consider purely medical decisions. Mark G. Kuczewski in his essay on communitarianism looks to the future, in which the "interminable shrill debates that characterize the public discourse in our society" can be mellowed by coming together to determine our fundamental values and benefit from the knowledge, experience, and vantage point of our neighbors. Interpersonal encounter is a method of reaching out to acquire moral truth through mutual self-discovery. Other essays promoting the benefits of mutual sharing of ideas and doctrines might be found in The Biophilia Hypothesis, edited by Stephen R. Kellert and Edward O. Wilson (Island Press/Shedwater Books, 1993) and Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, by Edward O. Wilson (Alfred A Knopf, 1998). Kuczewski acknowledges that such a coming together would be difficult to make operational. Bioethics: Ancient Themes in Contemporary Issues is a starting point for such a project and would be worthwhile reading for anyone who yearns for a society willing to use rational consideration in dealing with supposedly intractable issues. You will not find preformed answers, but rather, one hopes, keys to open padlocks on your own ideas, thoughts, and convictions. Acknowledgment: Naomi Block, MA, associate professor of philosophy, retired, at SUNY, Purchase, NY, provided helpful advice.

Journal

JAMA – American Medical Association

Published: Jun 27, 2001

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