Community as Healing: Pragmatist Ethics in Medical EncountersThe brief history of 20th century bioethics has been dominated by discussions of principles and appeals to autonomy that both divorce theory from practice and champion a notion of the individual as prior to and isolated from society. Pragmatism, on the other hand, has long sought to reconstruct ethical thought with the belief that distinctions between theory and practice, individual and society are not a priori starting points but purposeful developments of inquiry. Using insights from classic pragmatism, the author proposes reconstructive accounts of physician-patient relationships resulting in an emphasis on aiding the process of meaningful/significant living for all individuals involved in medical encounters. William James, John Dewey, and George Herbert Mead, among others, provide discussions of human relationships which accentuate the situatedness of problems and solutions and stress the need for building shared experience in order to develop both self and community. With an insistence on a recognition of a functional concept of the self (or 'self as social product'), the author's pragmatic position illuminates the integration of self with the community and leads to a new practice in the medical encounter, based on an attitude of community as healing. |
Contents
Medicine Ethics and Classic American Philosophy | 1 |
Principles and Pragmatism Negative Considerations for Positive Beginnings | 21 |
Autonomy as Consent An AllTooPassive Concept | 39 |
Self as Situated Social Product The Functionality of Narratives | 47 |
Community As Healing | 67 |
Epilogue | 83 |
| 87 | |
| 93 | |
About the Author | |
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ability account of moral action argue arise attempt attitudes Beauchamp and Childress Beauchamp/Childress and Engelhardt become begin beneficence bioethical principles bioethicists biomedical ethics chapter clinical coherence communitarian Community As Healing concept concerning considered judgments contemporary bioethics context deontological desires develop Dewey Dewey's discussion disease edition emphasis Enlightenment environment example experience Fesmire function further George Herbert Mead Glenn McGee goals health care community health care professionals human ical ideals imagination individual informed consent insular integrated interaction interests James James Childress John Dewey Jonsen living healthily MacIntyre Mead Mead's meaningful means and ends medical encounters medical ethics medicine moral activity moral artistry moral communities moral deliberation moral rationality narrative noted participation Pellegrino 1979 philosophers physicians position pragmatic pragmatist principle of autonomy problem problematic question recognize reflective relationships secular pluralist sense simply socially situated society specific story substantially autonomous tell theory tion tive unique Zaner