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Exploring the Role of Religion in Medical Ethics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2009

David C. Thomasma  and
Erich H. Loewy
David C. Thomasma
Affiliation:
Fr. Michael I. English, S.J. Professor of Medical Ethics, and Director of the Medical Humanities Program at Loyola University Chicago Medical Center.
Erich H. Loewy
Affiliation:
Associate professor of Medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria and Associate Professor of Humanities (Ethics) at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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Extract

From time to time medical ethicists bemoan the loss of a religious perspective in medical ethics. The discipline had its origins in the thinking of explicitly religious thinkers such as Paul Ramsey and Joseph Fletcher. Furthermore, many of those who contributed to the early development of the discipline had training in theology. One thinks of Daniel Callahan, Richard McCormick, Albert Jonsen, Sam. Banks. As the discipline becomes more and more self-reflective, with attention being paid to methodological and conditional concerns, it is only natural that the roots are due for a reexamination. The time has therefore come for some reassessment. The first steps here are taken in the form of a dialogue between the coauthors to clarify authentic contributions and weed out unauthentic ones.

Type
Articles
Information
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , Spring 1996 , pp. 257 - 268
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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References

Notes

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