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Chapter 6 - The Aim of Medicine I

The Autonomy Thesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

Somogy Varga
Affiliation:
Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
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Summary

The chapter, informed by the Systematicity and Understanding Theses, discusses how understanding in medicine bolsters human agency. Rejecting the initial pathocentric proposal of medicine’s aim (Pellegrino 2001; McAndrew 2019; Hershenov 2020), it advocates the Autonomy Thesis that argues medicine’s goal is not merely treating disease, but promoting health to enhance autonomy (Christman 2009). It adopts a "positive" notion of health that is more than disease absence (Venkatapuram 2013; Nordenfelt 2017) and establishes its relation with well-being and autonomy. The chapter introduces a pluralistic view of health concept difficulties through the lens of "conceptual engineering" and refutes criticisms suggesting the Autonomy Thesis’s permissiveness. The investigation is confined to "mainstream medicine" (Broadbent 2019, ch. 1) and considers the internal morality of medicine (Brody and Miller 1998; Pellegrino 2001). It strives to define a broad yet rigorous aim of medicine that applies to various branches.

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Chapter
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Science, Medicine, and the Aims of Inquiry
A Philosophical Analysis
, pp. 132 - 162
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • The Aim of Medicine I
  • Somogy Varga, Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
  • Book: Science, Medicine, and the Aims of Inquiry
  • Online publication: 16 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009449977.008
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  • The Aim of Medicine I
  • Somogy Varga, Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
  • Book: Science, Medicine, and the Aims of Inquiry
  • Online publication: 16 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009449977.008
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Aim of Medicine I
  • Somogy Varga, Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
  • Book: Science, Medicine, and the Aims of Inquiry
  • Online publication: 16 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009449977.008
Available formats
×