Philosophische Aspekte der Medizin
Ausgabe: 2/2011
57. Jahrgang
Medizin in einer Gesellschaft, die kein Schicksal duldet. Eine Kritik des Machbarkeitsdenkens der modernen Medizin
To comprehend the deep structures of the debate in medical ethics requires philosophical reflection which focuses beyond pragmatics and on the fundamental questions of humanity. This contribution analysizes the relationship between medicine and philosophy by looking at the notion of fate. Essentially, preimplantation genetic diagnosis is nothing less than a categorical rejection of fate understood as that which has come about although it did not have to. Medicine, meanwhile, regards fate merely as that which must not be. As a result of an excessive belief in what is achievable, modern medicine insinuates that, with its help, mankind can do away with fate altogether. However, modern medicine neglects the fact that fate, being the sum of all antecendents,,continues to define our lives. The very concept of human freedom depends on this. Thus, medicine must look at the moving line between that which can be actively shaped and that which must be accepted as given, lest it blindly pursue a belief in what is achievable, thus generating excessive demands on what it does.
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