Issues of Medical Ethics and Deontology in the Renaissance

PDF (ελληνικά)
Published: Mar 25, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/ethiki.22698
Keywords:
Medical Ethics ; Renaissance; Deontology; Hippocrates; Rodrigo a Castro; Therapeutic Lie; Ancient Greek Philosophy; Physician-Patient Relationship
Georgios Steiris
Abstract

This study explores the evolution of medical ethics and deontology during the Renaissance, a period marked by a shift toward philosophical branches with practical applications in public life. The author examines how Renaissance thinkers revived and adapted ancient Greek wisdom—specifically the works of Hippocrates, Plato, and Aristotle—to address the acute moral dilemmas of their time. Central to the discussion is the complex relationship between truth and deception in medical practice; while Aristotle advocated for absolute truth, others like Rodrigo a Castro and Julius Alexandrinus supported "therapeutic lies" (simulatio) and deception if they served the patient's recovery or prevented psychological distress. The research further investigates the treatment of the terminally ill, the influence of Christian ethics on the physician's duty to provide care regardless of a patient's status, and the strategic management of information provided to a patient's family to protect professional reputation. Ultimately, the paper highlights how Renaissance medical thought integrated philosophy, theology, and medicine to lay the groundwork for modern medical ethics.

Article Details
  • Section
  • Articles

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

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). This license allows others to share and adapt the work, provided that the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal are properly acknowledged.
  2. Authors are permitted and encouraged 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 personal websites) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Alexandrinus, Julius. De medicina et medico. Zurich, 1557.
Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics [Ηθικά Νικομάχεια]. Edited by H. Rackham. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1934.
Castelli, Pietro. De visitatione aegrotantium. Pro suis auditoribus et discipulis ad praxim instruendis. Rome, 1630.
Castro, Rodrigo de. Medicus Politicus, sive de Officiis Medico-Politicis Tractatus. Hamburg, 1614.
Codronchi, Giovanni Battista. De Christiana ac tuta medendi ratione. Ferrara, 1591.
Colle, Giovanni. Cosmilor medicaeus triplex, in quo exercitatio totius artis medicae. Venice, 1621.
Copenhaver, Brian P., and Charles B. Schmitt. Renaissance Philosophy [Η φιλοσοφία της Αναγέννησης]. Translated by Christos Gemeliaris. Athens: Polytropon, 2007.
Cortesi, Giovanni Battista. Miscellaneorum medicinalium decades denae. Messina, 1625.
Frank, Günther, and Stefan Rhein. "Melanchthon und die Naturwissenschaften seiner Zeit." The Sixteenth Century Journal 31, no. 1 (2000): 242–244.
Galen. Opera omnia quae exstant. Basel, 1561.
Helm, Jürgen. Religious Confessions and the Sciences in the Sixteenth Century. Leiden: Brill, 2001.
Hippocrates. Epidemics 2, 4-6 [Περί Επιδημιών]. Edited by Wesley Smith. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994.
Hippocrates. "Law" [Νόμος]. In Oeuvres Completes, edited by Émile Littré, vol. 4. Paris: Bailliere, 1839–1861.
Hippocrates. Pseudepigraphic Writings. Edited by Wesley Smith. Leiden: Brill, 1990.
Jonsen, Albert R. A Short History of Medical Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Kristeller, Paul Oskar, and John Herman Randall Jr. "The Study of the Philosophies of the Renaissance." Journal of the History of Ideas 2 (1941): 449–496.
Lapierre, Michael J. The Noetical Theory of Gabriel Vasquez, Jesuit Philosopher and Theologian (1549-1604): His View of the Objective Concept. New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1999.
Linden, David E. J. "Gabriele Zerbi's De cautelis medicorum and the Tradition of Medical Prudence." Bulletin of the History of Medicine 73, no. 1 (1999): 19–37.
Marzio, Galeotto. De doctrina promiscua. Lyon, 1552.
Melanchthon, Philipp. Philosophia Moralis Epitomes. Strasbourg, 1542.
Munster, Ladislao. "In tema di deontologia medica: Il 'De cautelis medicorum' di Gabriele Zerbi." Rivista di Storia delle Scienze Mediche e Naturali 46 (1956): 60–83.
Paul the Apostle. Epistle to the Romans [Προς Ρωμαίους].
Plato. Republic [Πολιτεία]. In Platonis Opera, edited by John Burnet. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1903.
Prioreschi, Plinio. A History of Medicine. 5 vols. Omaha: Horatius Press, 1996–2003.
Ruderman, David B., and Moshe Idel. Jewish Thought and Scientific Discovery in Early Modern Europe. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2001.
Schleiner, Winfried. Medical Ethics in the Renaissance. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1995.
Vasoli, Cesare. "The Renaissance Concept of Philosophy." In The Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy, edited by Charles B. Schmitt and Quentin Skinner, 58–60. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Verhey, Allen. Remembering Jesus: Christian Community, Scripture, and the Moral Life. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 2005.
Zacchia, Paolo. Quaestiones medico-legales. Rome, 1634.
Zabia, L. "El Diccionario de Juan Alonso y de los Ruyzes de Fontecha." In Diccionario de Juan Alonso y de los Ruyzes de Fontecha. Madrid: Arco Libros, 1999.