Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 23 (1):75-94 (2002)
Abstract |
Inasmuch as unmitigated pain and suffering areoften thought to rob human beings of theirdignity, physicians and other care providersincur a special duty to relieve pain andsuffering when they encounter it. When pain andsuffering cannot be controlled it is sometimesthought that human dignity is compromised.Death, it is sometimes argued, would bepreferred to a life without dignity.Reasoning such as this trades on certainpreconceptions of the nature of pain andsuffering, and of their relationships todignity. The purpose of this paper is to laybare these preconceptions. The duties torelieve pain and suffering are clearly mattersof moral obligation, as is the duty to respondappropriately to the dignity of other persons.However, it is argued that our understanding ofthe phenomena of pain and suffering and theirrelationships to human dignity will be expandedwhen we explore the aesthetic dimensions ofthese various concepts. On the view presentedhere the life worth living is both morally goodand aesthetically beautiful. Appropriate``suffering with'''' another can help to maintainand restore the dignity of the relationshipsinvolved, even as it preserves and enhances thedignity of patient and caregiver alike.
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Keywords | aesthetics compassion dignity ethics organic unity pain suffering sympathy |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Reprint years | 2004 |
DOI | 10.1023/A:1019521923979 |
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References found in this work BETA
The Political Theories of Choice and Dignity.Robert E. Goodin - 1981 - American Philosophical Quarterly 18 (2):91 - 100.
In Defense of the Dignity of Being Human.Willard Gaylin - 1984 - Hastings Center Report 14 (4):18-22.
The Incrementalist Argument for a Strong Duty To Prevent Suffering.Jamie Mayerfeld - 1997 - Journal of Social Philosophy 28 (1):5-21.
Citations of this work BETA
Dignity and Enhancement.Nick Bostrom - 2008 - In Adam Schulman (ed.), Human Dignity and Bioethics: Essays Commissioned by the President's Council on Bioethics. [President's Council on Bioethics.
Washing the Patient: Dignity and Aesthetic Values in Nursing Care.Jeannette Pols - 2013 - Nursing Philosophy 14 (3):186-200.
Gunther Von Hagens' Body Worlds: Selling Beautiful Education.Lawrence Burns - 2007 - American Journal of Bioethics 7 (4):12 – 23.
Psychopathy: Morally Incapacitated Persons.Heidi Maibom - 2017 - In Thomas Schramme & Steven Edwards (eds.), Handbook of the Philosophy of Medicine. Dordrecht: Springer. pp. 1109-1129.
Can We Justify Eliminating Coercive Measures in Psychiatry?E. J. D. Prinsen & J. J. M. van Delden - 2009 - Journal of Medical Ethics 35 (1):69-73.
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