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LTT: S. Varga
November 5, 2021 @ 12:10 pm - 1:30 pm EDT
Somogy Varga, Aarhus University, Center Visiting Scholar
The Aim of Medicine
ABSTRACT: Recent debates about the scope and societal role of medicine raise fundamental questions about its aim. The main task of the talk is to contribute to clarifying this issue. I start by outlining the idea medicine deploys a particular kind of understanding. Then, I explore the initially plausible proposal according to which medicine is pathocentric, aiming to restore the health of individuals by curing disease. Discussing and rejecting this as well as competing proposals, I argue that medicine is but sanocentric, with the final aim to enhance autonomy. I close by considering the objection that the proposed view is overly permissive and allows many highly controversial procedures as legitimate parts of medicine.
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