Medical Ethics in the Ancient World (Clinical Medical Ethics series) - Softcover

Carrick, Paul J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0878408495 ISBN 13: 9780878408498

Publisher: Georgetown University Press, 2001

Synopsis

In this book Paul Carrick charts the ancient Greek and Roman foundations of Western medical ethics. Surveying 1,500 years of pre-Christian medical moral history, Carrick applies insights from ancient medical ethics to developments in contemporary medicine such as advance directives, gene therapy, physician-assisted suicide, abortion, and surrogate motherhood. He discusses such timeless issues as the social status of the physician; attitudes toward dying and death; and the relationship of medicine to philosophy, religion, and popular mortality. Opinions of a wide range of ancient thinkers are consulted, including physicians, poets, philosophers, and patients. He also explores the puzzling question of Hippocrates' identity, analyzing not only the Hippocratic Oath but also the Father of Medicine's lesser-known works. Accessible to both professionals and to those with little background in medical philosophy or ancient science, Carrick's book demonstrates that in the ancient world, as in our own postmodern age, physicians, philosophers, and patients embraced a diverse array of perspectives on the most fundamental questions of life and death.

About this title

Synopsis:

Surveying 1500 years of pre-Christian medical moral history, this book applies insights from ancient medical ethics to developments in contemporary medicine such as advance directives, gene therapy, physician-assisted suicide, abortion and surrogate motherhood.

About the Author:

Paul Carrick teaches philosophy at Gettysburg College. He is a consultant for Pinnacle Health Hospitals and founding director of the Honors Program at Harrisburg Area Community College.

About this edition

• Publisher: Georgetown University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0878408495
• ISBN 13: 9780878408498
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 292