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What is ethics? I think that spirituality
is a way of living that is grounded in a spiritual view. Biomedics
is at the moment governed by a 'rule approach' to ethical problem
solving. Issues are raised and solved within a juridical framework
alone. And this is not sufficient for an integrated Ethics of Care.
For example in the ongoing euthanasia debate, the decision making
happens at a political level and the voice of medical professionals
themselves is notably absent. Most (85% of ) doctors don't agree
with the basic principle of the euthanasia proposal which will create
the possibility of ending one's own life even if one is not terminally
ill. The mentality of the politicians and jurists is that clear
rules are sufficient to solve all ethical problems. But this is
not realistic because reality is far more complex.
There is another tradition which has real content for Biomedics
and that is 'virtue ethics' formulated over two thousand years ago
by Aristotle. This approach asks us the deeper, often tougher questions
such as 'how sensitive are we to the fragility of life' ? What is
our attitude to suffering, for example how do you react when your
pet dies ? There can be some beauty in suffering. Learning to deal
with suffering in one's life is very important. It leads to compassion
and to a deeper humanity.
When people have to make decisions, a lot has already been decided
by their environment, by the way they have lived their lives for
example. It is important to develop certain attitudes, a certain
sensibility to life experience. 'For me Palliative medicine is a
place where we try to develop an Ethics of Care which appeals to
virtue ethics. I am a defender of virtue ethics and against the
'juridification' of society'.
There is a real tension in our world between the values of 'autonomy'
and 'solidarity'. There are many in our society for example the
elderly and the very young who are non-autonomous. Vulnerability
is a reality in life. This raises then the question of human dignity
and suffering. Because of the tensions that exist between the values
of autonomy, vulnerability, community and solidarity, we ask ourselves
'is suffering unworthy of man?'. Our living environment and community
has a profound influence on how we think about the suffering, fragility
and brokenness of life. |
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