APQ - APPON PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY

The paper examines the interface between the philosophical doctrine known as humanism and contemporary healthcare delivery. It argues that while humanism and medicine historically lay a common emphasis on the centrality of humans and their wellbeing, with the increasing technocratisation of medical treatment and patient overload, contemporary medicine is steadily experiencing an erosion of its humanistic ethos. With the aim of rehumanizing contemporary medical practice, the paper explores diverse definitions of humanism to spotlight its commitment to the values of human dignity and develops the concept of medical humanism as an approach to physician-patient relations. It shows how medical humanism stresses the importance of empathy, patient-centeredness, and shared decision-making, in contrast to institutionalised, evidence-based medical practice. Further, the paper contrasts the biomedical model, founded on in physicalistic monism and mechanistic understanding of the human person, with a dualistic framework that recognizes man’s physical and psychological dimensions. This more nuanced perspective underpins holistic care and encourages physicians not only to address physical disorders but also the social, emotional, cognitive aspects of illness. Adopting the methodology of conceptual analysis and exegetical interpretation, the paper identifies a precipitous decline in humanistic values within contemporary medical practice and proposes reforms, including stronger emphasis on humanistic training, revised admission criteria that privileges the virtue of empathy, and improved working conditions for medical professionals.

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