Pilgrims in Medicine - Conscience, Legalism and Human Rights by Thomas Alured Faunce
This arrestingly novel work develops a normative synthesis of medical humanities, virtue ethics, medical ethics, health law and human rights. It presents an ambitious, complex and coherent argument for the reconceptualisation of the doctor-patient relationship and its regulation utilising approaches often thought of as being separate, if not opposed (virtue-based ethics and universal human rights). The case is argued gracefully, with moderation, but also with respect for opposing positions.The books analysis of the foundational professional virtue of therapeutic loyalty is an original departure from the traditional discourse of patient autonomy, and the ethical and legal duties of the medical practitioner. The central argument is not merely presented, as bookends, in the introduction and conclusion. It is cogently represented in each chapter and section and measured against the material considered. A remarkable feature is the use of aptly selected canonical" literature to inform the argument. These references run from Hesses The Glass Bead Game in the abstract, to Joyces Ulysses in the conclusion. They include excerpts from and discussion about Bergman, Borges, Boswell, Tolstoy, de Beauvoir, Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Samuel Johnson, Aristotle, Orwell, Osler, Chaucer, Schweitzer, Shakespeare, Thorwalds, Kafka and William Carlos Williams. Such references are used not merely as an artistic and decorative leitmotif, but become a critical, narrative element and another complex and rich layer to this work. The breadth and quality of the references are testimony to the authors clear understanding of the modern law and literature movement. This work provides the basis of a medical school course. As many medical educators as possible should also be encouraged to read this work for the insights it will give them into using their own personal life narratives and those of their patients to inform their decision-making process. This thesis will also be of value to the judiciary, whose members are often called upon to make normatively difficult judgments about medical care and medical rules.The human rights material leads to a hopeful view of an international movement toward a universal synthesis between medical ethics and human rights in all doctor-patient relationships."
ISBN: 9789004139626
Publication Date: 2004-12-03
Narrative Medicine by
This book examines all aspects of narrative medicine and its value in ensuring that, in an age of evidence-based medicine defined by clinical trials, numbers, and probabilities, clinical science is firmly embedded in the medical humanities in order to foster the understanding of clinical cases and the delivery of excellent patient care. The medical humanities address what happens to us when we are affected by a disease and narrative medicine is an interdisciplinary approach that emphasizes the importance of patient narratives in bridging various divides, including those between health care professionals and patients.
The Chief Concern of Medicine by
Unlike any existing studies of the medical humanities, The Chief Concern of Medicinebrings to the examination of medical practices a thorough---and clearly articulated---exposition of the nature of narrative. The book builds on the work of linguistics, semiotics, narratology, and discourse theory and examines numerous literary works and narrative "vignettes" of medical problems, situations, and encounters. Throughout, the book presents usable expositions of the ways storytelling organizes itself to allow physicians and other healthcare workers (and even patients themselves) to be more attentive to and self-conscious about the information---the "narrative knowledge"---of the patient's story.
Pilgrims in Medicine - Conscience, Legalism and Human Rights by
This arrestingly novel work develops a normative synthesis of medical humanities, virtue ethics, medical ethics, health law and human rights. It presents an ambitious, complex and coherent argument for the reconceptualisation of the doctor-patient relationship and its regulation utilising approaches often thought of as being separate, if not opposed (virtue-based ethics and universal human rights). The case is argued gracefully, with moderation, but also with respect for opposing positions.The books analysis of the foundational professional virtue of therapeutic loyalty is an original departure from the traditional discourse of patient autonomy, and the ethical and legal duties of the medical practitioner. The central argument is not merely presented, as bookends, in the introduction and conclusion. It is cogently represented in each chapter and section and measured against the material considered. A remarkable feature is the use of aptly selected canonical" literature to inform the argument. These references run from Hesses The Glass Bead Game in the abstract, to Joyces Ulysses in the conclusion. They include excerpts from and discussion about Bergman, Borges, Boswell, Tolstoy, de Beauvoir, Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Samuel Johnson, Aristotle, Orwell, Osler, Chaucer, Schweitzer, Shakespeare, Thorwalds, Kafka and William Carlos Williams. Such references are used not merely as an artistic and decorative leitmotif, but become a critical, narrative element and another complex and rich layer to this work. The breadth and quality of the references are testimony to the authors clear understanding of the modern law and literature movement. This work provides the basis of a medical school course. As many medical educators as possible should also be encouraged to read this work for the insights it will give them into using their own personal life narratives and those of their patients to inform their decision-making process. This thesis will also be of value to the judiciary, whose members are often called upon to make normatively difficult judgments about medical care and medical rules.The human rights material leads to a hopeful view of an international movement toward a universal synthesis between medical ethics and human rights in all doctor-patient relationships."
Literature and Medicine in Nineteenth-Century Britain by
Janis Caldwell investigates the links between the growing scientific materialism of the nineteenth century and the persistence of the Romantic literary imagination. Through closely analyzing literary texts from Frankenstein to Middlemarch, and examining fiction alongside biomedical lectures, textbooks and articles, Caldwell argues that the way "Romantic materialism" influenced these disciplines compels us to revise conventional accounts of the relationship between literature and medicine.
Medical Progress and Social Reality by
An anthology of nineteenth-century literature about medicine and medical issues.
Philosophy and Medical Welfare by
"This volume of papers, arising from the Royal Institute of Philosophy Conference on Philosophy and Medical Welfare, includes contributions from doctors, nurses, and administrators in the field of health care as well as academics in the disciplines of philosophy, economics, and politics."
