https://doi.org/10.4081/mem.2010.194

Spunti di riflessione bioetica dalla letteratura

Vol. 59 No. 6 (2010)
Published: December 30, 2010
Letteratura, etica, antropologia / Literature, ethics, anthropology
Abstract Views: 958
PDF (Italiano): 4
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Simona Giardina
simona.giardina@rm.unicatt.it
Ricercatore in Bioetica, Istituto di Bioetica, Facoltà di Medicina e chirurgia "A. Gemelli", Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rom, Italy.
Vincenza Mele
Ricercatore in Bioetica, Istituto di Bioetica, Facoltà di Medicina e chirurgia "A. Gemelli", Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rom, Italy.
L'articolo focalizza l'importanza di un dialogo tra bioetica e letteratura. Entrambe rivendicano ciò che manca o è andato perduto nella pratica medica e che riguarda soprattutto la relazione medico-paziente. L'intento è quello di far emergere il ruolo attivo della letteratura nella riflessione biomedica. L'introduzione nei curricula delle Facoltà di Medicina di speciali moduli didattici dedicati alle Scienze Umane non ha come fine solo l'arricchimento intellettuale della professione ma persegue una finalità rigorosamente operativa. Il vantaggio della letteratura è quello di trasmettere informazioni in forma umana, di farci avvicinare all'umanità degli altri, diminuendo la distanza tra noi e l'altro. La letteratura tocca i nostri cuori e allo stesso tempo le nostre menti. Dialogare con la letteratura e con le Scienze umane in genere può aiutare a sviluppare capacità quali l'osservazione, l'analisi, l'empatia, lo spirito critico, fondamentali nella pratica medica. Attraverso la lettura di testi significativi il futuro medico incontrerà il lato umano della medicina: la comprensione del malato nella sua unicità, la dimensione esistenziale della malattia, l'importanza del recupero di un dialogo profondo tra medico e paziente.
----------
The aim of this work is to highlight the importance of the dialogue between very different disciplines trying to bring to light the value and function of literature vis-à-vis bioethical concerns. One of the main areas where literature and bioethics coalesce in important literary texts is the relationship between humankind and sickness (with particular regard on doctor-patient relationship). This paper focalizes the anthropological and ethical aspects of this relationship. The intention is to encourage not just aesthetic experience but human experience of this relationship. The way in which literature deals with these aspects shows a great level of humanity and empathy. It is just by this way that the reader is fully immersed in that specific problem. Literature has a great power to awaken us to the humanity of others decreasing the distance between them and us. Literature can touch our hearts at the same time our heads. Literature provides insight into the human condition, suffering, personhood and offer a historical perspective on medical practice. Attention to literature and the arts helps to develop and nurture skills of observation, analysis, empathy and self-reflection - skills that are essential for human medical care. Through the poems, stories and essays, students will appreciate their roles not just as healers or caregivers but as compassionate human beings. They will see the importance of fostering the human side of medicine: understanding the needs of patients as unique individuals, expressing compassion and empathy in the face of tragedy and grief and making judgments in complex ethical situations.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

How to Cite

Giardina, S., & Mele, V. (2010). Spunti di riflessione bioetica dalla letteratura. Medicina E Morale, 59(6). https://doi.org/10.4081/mem.2010.194

PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.

An Open Access Publication is one that meets the following two conditions:

  1. the author(s) and copyright holder(s) grant(s) to all users a free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, transmit and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works, in any digital medium for any responsible purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship, as well as the right to make small numbers of printed copies for their personal use.
  2. a complete version of the work and all supplemental materials, including a copy of the permission as stated above, in a suitable standard electronic format is deposited immediately upon initial publication in at least one online repository that is supported by an academic institution, scholarly society, government agency, or other well-established organization that seeks to enable open access, unrestricted distribution, interoperability, and long-term archiving.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.