https://doi.org/10.4081/mem.2010.193

La Storia della Medicina e la sua dimensione etico-antropologica

Vol. 59 No. 6 (2010)
Published: December 30, 2010
Storia della medicina, etica, antropologia / History of medicine, ethics, anthropology
Abstract Views: 1136
PDF (Italiano): 12
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Authors

Simona Giardina
simona.giardina@rm.unicatt.it
Ricercatore in Bioetica, Italy.
Andrea Virdis
Dottore di ricerca in Bioetica, Italy.
Antonio G. Spagnolo
Facoltà di Medicina e chirurgia "A. Gemelli", Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy.
L'articolo mette in luce la dimensione etico-antropologica della storia della medicina. Nel passato possiamo ritrovare quegli elementi di rilevanza etica che sono in stretta continuità con il presente. Fin dalle origini il medico ha sperimentato il conflitto tra mondo del desiderio e mondo del limite. La cura dei malati comincia da lì, dalla consapevolezza di condividere lo stesso desiderio, lo stesso limite, lo stesso destino. L'articolo guarda alla storia della medicina come storia dell'umanità; dentro vi è tutta la vita umana, secondo la definizione dello storico Fielding Garrison (1913). In questa prospettiva la dimensione etico-antropologica emerge soprattutto nelle molte figure di medici esemplari contraddistinti da valori quali il coraggio, la dedizione, l'empatia, ma soprattutto da un grande senso di umanità e di solidarietà per i propri malati. Infine, una lettura etico-sociale può emergere dall'arte e dalla letteratura. Esse sono non solo testimonianza di un'epoca (documenti storici) ma anche un sismografo delle dimensioni etiche della medicina.
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This article highlights the ethical-anthropological level of the history of medicine. It explores the close connection between past and present regarding those elements of ethical relevance in medicine. Since the beginning, the physician experienced the conflict between hopes and limits. Medical care springs exactly from the awareness of sharing the same desire, the same limit, the same destiny. This article regards the history of medicine as history of mankind; according to the historian Fielding Garrison, the history of medicine embodies the entire human life (1913). In this perspective, the ethical-anthropological dimension emerges particularly in many exemplary figures of physicians, distinguished for courage, commitment, empathy, humanity and solidarity towards their patients. Finally, arts and literature can be regarded as instruments to get a cultural perspective, as well as guidelines for social and ethical key of interpretation. They are not only historical documents, but also a seismograph, registering the fundamental historical and ethical dimension of medicine.

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How to Cite

Giardina, S., Virdis, A., & Spagnolo, A. G. (2010). La Storia della Medicina e la sua dimensione etico-antropologica. Medicina E Morale, 59(6). https://doi.org/10.4081/mem.2010.193

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