Practical Reason and the Medical Art of Attending Suffering
The practice of clinical medicine involves not only the science of universal laws applied toward an intervention in disease but also the art of attending to someone's particular circumstances of suffering. However, while the scientific method is rigorous, the art of attending suffering remains...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2018]
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| In: |
Toronto journal of theology
Year: 2018, Volume: 34, Issue: 2, Pages: 159-172 |
| IxTheo Classification: | KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages KDB Roman Catholic Church NBE Anthropology NCH Medical ethics VA Philosophy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The practice of clinical medicine involves not only the science of universal laws applied toward an intervention in disease but also the art of attending to someone's particular circumstances of suffering. However, while the scientific method is rigorous, the art of attending suffering remains to be formalized. I develop an approach to the art of attending suffering in three stages. First, I outline the kinds of movements that Thomas Aquinas describes in the sensory nature: apprehension of, appetition toward, and finally abiding in the good. Second, I offer a descriptive definition of suffering as a hindrance to these sensory movements in pursuit of the good. Finally, I submit that practical reason is that intelligence which enables the sensory nature to move toward flourishing while emerging from suffering. If the sensory nature is "hard-wired" toward the good while avoiding the not-so-good, and if the work of practical reason is to pursue with prudence the good and shun evil, then it becomes apparent that the sensory nature and practical reason are both engaged in the movements of emerging from suffering-as-evil into flourishing-as-good. I conclude that while the scientific method guides our medical interventions, it is the dynamics of the sensory nature, rendered intelligent by practical reason, that are important for the art of attending suffering. It is practical reason with its habit of prudence that affords the medical art of attending the sufferer its formal aspect. |
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| ISSN: | 1918-6371 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Toronto journal of theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.3138/tjt.2018-0005 |