
T. A. Cavanaugh's Hippocrates' Oath and Asclepius' Snake: The Birth of the Medical Profession articulates the Oath as establishing the medical profession's unique internal medical ethic - in its most basic and least controvertible form, this ethic mandates that physicians help and not harm the sick. Relying on Greek myth, drama, and medical experience (e.g., homeopathy), the book shows how this medical ethic arose from reflection on the most vexing medical-ethical problem -- injury caused by a physician -- and argues that deliberate iatrogenic harm, especially the harm of a doctor choosing to kill (physician assisted suicide, euthanasia, abortion, and involvement in capital punishment), amounts to an abandonment of medicine as an exclusively therapeutic profession. The book argues that medicine as a profession necessarily involves stating before others what one stands for: the good one seeks and the bad one seeks to avoid on behalf of the sick, and rejects the view that medicine is purely a technique lacking its own unique internal ethic. It concludes noting that medical promising (as found in the White Coat Ceremony through which U. S. medical students matriculate) implicates medical autonomy which in turn merits respect, including honoring professional conscientious objections.
This work investigates the origins and foundational necessity of the Hippocratic Oath as the defining internal ethic of the medical profession. T. A. Cavanaugh, a scholar in philosophy and bioethics, utilizes a synthesis of classical Greek mythology, dramatic literature, and historical medical practice to construct his argument. He posits that the medical profession is not merely a technical skill set but a moral commitment to therapeutic action, specifically defined by the mandate to avoid iatrogenic harm.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Scholars and bioethicists frequently note the dense philosophical rigor of the prose and the author's firm stance on traditional medical ethics. The book is often cited by those interested in the historical and moral foundations of the physician's role in society.
Page Count:
192
Publication Date:
2017-12-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190673672
ISBN-13:
9780190673673
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