Introduction

phenomenology and medicine

Toombs

pp. 1-26

in: Toombs (ed), Handbook of phenomenology and medicine, Berlin, Springer, 2001

Abstract

As the fields of philosophy of medicine and bioethics have developed in the United States, the philosophical perspective of phenomenology has been largely ignored. Yet, the central conviction that informs this volume is that phenomenology provides extraordinary insights into many of the issues that are directly addressed within the world of medicine. Such issues include: the nature of medicine itself; the distinction between immediate experience and scientific conceptualization; the nature of the body — and the relationship between body, consciousness, world and self; the structure of emotions; the meaning of health, illness and disease; the problem of intersubjectivity — particularly with respect to achieving successful communication with another; the complexity of decision-making in the clinical context; the possibility of empathic understanding; the theory and method of clinical practice; and the essential characteristics of the therapeutic relationship — i.e. the relationship between the sick person and the one who professes to help.