Philosophy of medicine is what philosophers of medicine do. 2008

William E Stempsey
Department of Philosophy, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA 01610, USA. wstempsey@holycross.edu

Philosophy of medicine cannot be precisely defined because neither philosophy nor medicine can be precisely defined. Furthermore, philosophers of medicine do not constitute a well-defined class because they come not only from the fields of philosophy and medicine, but also from various other disciplines. Hence, I argue for a broad conception of philosophy of medicine that includes philosophical reflection on any matter considered to belong to medicine. A brief survey of the philosophy of medicine literature supports this view. Of the 625 articles surveyed for the years 1997-2006, nearly three-quarters dealt with matters of ethics, and of the 36 books surveyed, nearly 60% were primarily on ethics. Nonetheless, articles and books focusing on all other major branches of philosophy--metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics, and logic--were also published. Moreover, many of the articles, even those primarily on ethics, dealt in significant ways with more than one branch of philosophy. I conclude that philosophy of medicine includes all sorts of philosophical reflection on medicine but is currently dominated by ethics. Given the stated purpose of journals and book series devoted to philosophy and medicine, this leaves ample room to expand other philosophical reflection on medicine.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D010686 Philosophy, Medical The underlying rationale or theoretical basis for the principles of MEDICINE. Medical Philosophy
D011364 Professional Practice The use of one's knowledge in a particular profession. It includes, in the case of the field of biomedicine, professional activities related to health care and the actual performance of the duties related to the provision of health care. Practice, Professional,Practices, Professional,Professional Practices
D001877 Books Non-periodical written or printed works consisting of sheets of pages fastened or bound together within covers. Book Chapter,Book,Book Chapters
D004992 Ethics, Medical The principles of professional conduct concerning the rights and duties of the physician, relations with patients and fellow practitioners, as well as actions of the physician in patient care and interpersonal relations with patient families. Medical Ethics
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012196 Review Literature as Topic Works about published materials which provide an examination of recent or current literature. These articles can cover a wide range of subject matter at various levels of completeness and comprehensiveness based on analyses of literature that may include research findings. The review may reflect the state of the art and may also include reviews as a literary form. State-of-the-Art Review,State-of-the-Art Reviews,Review, State-of-the-Art,Reviews, State-of-the-Art,State of the Art Review,State of the Art Reviews

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