In this book Paul Carrick charts the ancient Greek and Roman foundations of Western medical ethics. Surveying 1500 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 morality. 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.
Complete with chapter discussion questions, illustrations, a map, and appendices of ethical codes, Medical Ethics in the Ancient World will be useful in courses on the medical humanities, ancient philosophy, bioethics, comparative cultures, and the history of medicine. 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.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
PART I The Social and Scientific Setting
1. THE STATUS OF THE PHYSICIAN
2. THEORIES OF HEALTH AND DISEASE
3. ATTITUDES TOWARD DEATH
PART II The Rise of Medical Ethics
4. WHO WAS HIPPOCRATES?
5. THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH
PART III Abortion and Euthanasia
6. THE PROBLEM OF ABORTION
7. THE PROBLEM OF EUTHANASIA
8. THE PHYSICIAN'S MORAL RESPONSIBILITY
CONCLUSION
EPILOGUE
Appendix A: Principles of Medical Ethics
Appendix B: A Patient's Bill of Rights
Appendix C: Declaration of Geneva
Appendix D: Code for Nurses
Appendix E: Animal Use in Biomedical Research
Appendix F: Historical Chronology: Ancient Medicine and Culture
Select Bibliography
Index
Reviews
"I think this is the best book on the subject available today, and I recommend it highly."—Edmund D. Pellegrino, MD, Georgetown University
"Medical Ethics in the Ancient World . . .is beautifully written, elegantly argued, and [holds] profound significance for bioethics today."—Erich H. Loewy, MD, University of California, Davis
"Professor Carrick's superb text reminds us that medical ethics is as old as mankind, and that the ancients faced many of the same problems we do."—George R. Simms, MD, professor emeritus, The Pennsylvania State University
Awards
Chosen as a 2001 Outstanding Title for Public and Secondary School Libraries by the American Association of School Librarians
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.
