Fostering Humanism in Surgical Practice

This book offers an examination of the importance of humanism in surgical education and practice. As technology is increasingly dictating the way of being and doing in medicine, there is an urgent need to re-consider what medical humanism can offer to sustain the professional identity of surgeons and contribute to the training of future surgeons. Bioethics, usually considered as major source for the professional identity of surgeons, is ill-suited for such a task as it has produced a process of moral reasoning that is less interested in questions of personal and professional identity and more devoted to principles of obligation concerning right actions and pragmatic considerations that optimize outcomes.

Fostering Humanism in Surgical Practice provides an intellectually robust medical ethics beyond bioethics and a vision of medicine qua surgery, medical professionalism, and medical humanism re-oriented toward the promotion of character development, compassionate care, and human flourishing for both patients and surgeons.

This volume will be targeted at a wide scholarly audience including researchers from medicine, philosophy (of medicine), the humanities, philosophy of technology, medical anthropology, information robotics, medical engineering, law and others. This text can be used in introductory or advanced courses in the philosophy of medicine, science and technology studies, and philosophy of technology.