Medicine And Practical Ethics In Galen

"Offering the first authoritative analysis of Galen's psychological and ethical works alongside a large number of technical tracts, both medical and philosophical, this book provides a new framework through which we can comprehend Galen's role as a practical ethicist - an aspect of his intellectual profile that has been little understood until now"--

Galen was notable in the ancient world for his creative intermingling of medicine and practical ethics. This book is the first authoritative analysis of Galen's psychological and ethical works alongside a large number of his technical tracts, both medical and philosophical, and offers a robust framework through which we can comprehend his role as a practical ethicist - an aspect of his intellectual profile that has been little understood until now. Sophia Xenophontos explores a wide range of literature on moralia in the Roman imperial period, as well as topics including the pathology of emotions, the social role of medicine, and character formation and social ethics, to show the sophisticated and complex ways in which moral themes and controversies from antiquity were adapted and reinvigorated by Galen. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Provides the first authoritative study of Galen's moralising discourse in relation to and beyond his proficiency in medicine.

General practice provides the first point of contact to medical care for patients across the world. GPs have obligations to patients in their care, to the government for responsible use of resources, and to communities for the standard of health services provided. Ethics is at the heart of health services, dealing with fundamental questions about what ought to be valued, and why. The two disciplines inevitably impact upon each other, and this book brings them together to focus on practical ethics for general practitioners. In this update of a successful first edition, the authors aim to: help GPs appreciate the ethically significant nature of general practice, drawing attention to the ethical complexity of apparently mundane and everyday experience; present a thoughtful and thought-provoking account of the moral foundations of general practice, exploring how moral concepts such as trust, beneficence, respect for autonomy, and fairness take on unique meanings in the general practice setting; and to discuss some specific ethical issues in detail, offering solutions that are practical as well as ethically sound. The focus is on practice throughout, ensuring through real cases and discussions with practitioners that the book is not abstract and esoteric in its discussion of philosophical principles, but that it is applicable in the real world of the doctor's surgery. The authors guide their readers through basic approaches to ethical reasoning and use of a practical ethics analysis framework suitable for use in all ethical dilemmas in medicine. Themes covered include the authors' research-based account of trust and the doctor-patient relationship, acting in the patient's best interests, confidentiality, making decisions with patients, beginning and end of life issues, treating children and adolescents, and role conflicts in general practice.

Publisher's Note: Products purchased from 3rd Party sellers are not guaranteed by the Publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product. Recent, significant changes in surgery, technology, regulations, and society have greatly impacted how surgeons consider ethical issues in light of professional expertise, wisdom, and personal responsibility. Dr. Lloyd A. Jacobs, along with world-renowned surgeons and other health care professionals, provides thoughtful, intellectually challenging information and commentary in an easy-to-understand manner to help surgeons think through and respond effectively to complex questions of life, death, provision of health care, and more. Covering the wide range of ethical concerns facing today’s surgeons, this concise, readable title is beneficial at all levels of training and practice.

"Ethical Choices in Contemporary Medicine" jettisons the standard medical ethics models of "rights" language and shows how the bioethical problems that receive attention from the media and the public are related to and are explicable in terms of the epistemological foundations of science and medicine. These epistemological concerns include how medical knowledge is established (scientific validity), how medical protocols are administered (checks and balances), how medical certainty is evaluated (probability) and medical responsibility is framed (personal or collective), and how medical knowledge is transmitted (popular media versus professional journals) and how medical care is allocated (insurance policies and government subsides). The book examines the present predicaments of medicine within a broad cultural context and suggests that rational discourse and parochial ethical dialogue may be futile in the face of competing and incommensurable frameworks and agendas, attitudes and wishes. The authors show that, in the postmodern age, two interrelated issues surface when it comes to medicine. On the one hand, there is a strong critique of science and the privileges associated with the scientific discourse and, on the other, there is still a deep-seated quest for certainty in all medical matters.

The Second Sophistic (c.AD 60-250) was a time of intense competition for honour and status. Like today, this often caused mental as well as physical stress for the elite of the Roman Empire. This book, which transcends the boundaries between literature, social history, and philosophy, studies Plutarch's practical ethics, a group of twenty-odd texts within the Moralia designed to help powerful Greeks and Romans manage their ambitions and society's expectations successfully. Lieve Van Hoof combines a systematic analysis of the general principles underlying Plutarch's practical ethics, including the author's target readership, therapeutical practices, and self-presentation, with five innovative case studies. A picture emerges of philosophy under the Roman Empire not as a set of abstract, theoretical doctrines, but as a kind of symbolic capital engendering power and prestige for author and reader alike.

Increasingly, medical students are required to face up to ethical issues in their training and practice. At the same time, there is growing interest in philosophy courses in the ethical issues raised by medical practice. This textbook, designed primarily for students of medicine, develops the issues to a philosophical level complex enough to be satisfying to students of philosophy as well as MA students on applied ethics courses. The author advocates an approach to medical ethics which breaks out of the straitjacket of the narrow choice between utilitarian or deontological theory, and contains a valuable discussion of practical wisdom. It maintains a balance between case studies and philosophical arguments - which are developed in a historical context, and will be of interest at all levels of the medical profession.