Medical Humanism in the Posthuman Era: A Critical Examination of its Past, Present, and Future
This paper explores the historical and contemporary significance of medical humanism and its potential value in medical education. Medical humanities emerged as a response to the issues arising from science-driven modern medicine, most notably the marginalization of the individual in medical practic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Korean Society for the History of Medicine
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Uisahak |
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| Online Access: | http://www.medhist.or.kr/upload/pdf/kjmh-32-1-115.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797692815474425856 |
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| author | Imkyung HWANG |
| author_facet | Imkyung HWANG |
| author_sort | Imkyung HWANG |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper explores the historical and contemporary significance of medical humanism and its potential value in medical education. Medical humanities emerged as a response to the issues arising from science-driven modern medicine, most notably the marginalization of the individual in medical practice. Medical humanism has evolved to become a guiding ideology in shaping the theory and practice of medical humanities.However, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant changes in medical humanities, challenging the foundations of humanism beyond medical humanism. The rise of posthumanism raises fundamental questions about humanism itself. The climate crisis, driven by human greed and capitalism’s exploitation of nature, has led to the emergence of viruses that transcend species boundaries. The overflow of severely ill patients has highlighted the classic medical ethics problem of “who should be saved first” in Korea, and medical humanism is facing a crisis. Various marginalized groups have also pointed out the biases inherent in medical humanism. With this rapidly changing environment in mind, this paper examines the past and present of medical humanism in order to identify the underlying ideology of medical humanism and its future potential in medical education. This paper assumes that there are two axes of humanism: human-centeredness and anthropocentrism. Medical humanism has historically developed along the axis of human-centeredness rather than anthropocentrism, emphasizing the academic inquiry into human nature and conditions, as well as the moral element of humanity.Furthermore, this paper discusses the challenges that medical humanism faces from post-human centeredness and post-anthropocentrism, as well as the recent discourse on posthumanism. Finally, the implications of this shift in medical humanism for the education of the history of medicine are briefly explored. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T02:34:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a2e5b2602ec643c784276b4bf3259121 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1225-505X 2093-5609 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T02:34:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Korean Society for the History of Medicine |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Uisahak |
| spelling | doaj.art-a2e5b2602ec643c784276b4bf32591212023-09-05T04:06:56ZengKorean Society for the History of MedicineUisahak1225-505X2093-56092023-04-0132111514510.13081/kjmh.2023.32.1152434Medical Humanism in the Posthuman Era: A Critical Examination of its Past, Present, and FutureImkyung HWANG0Professor, Jeju National University, College of Medicine, Department of Medical HumanitiesThis paper explores the historical and contemporary significance of medical humanism and its potential value in medical education. Medical humanities emerged as a response to the issues arising from science-driven modern medicine, most notably the marginalization of the individual in medical practice. Medical humanism has evolved to become a guiding ideology in shaping the theory and practice of medical humanities.However, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant changes in medical humanities, challenging the foundations of humanism beyond medical humanism. The rise of posthumanism raises fundamental questions about humanism itself. The climate crisis, driven by human greed and capitalism’s exploitation of nature, has led to the emergence of viruses that transcend species boundaries. The overflow of severely ill patients has highlighted the classic medical ethics problem of “who should be saved first” in Korea, and medical humanism is facing a crisis. Various marginalized groups have also pointed out the biases inherent in medical humanism. With this rapidly changing environment in mind, this paper examines the past and present of medical humanism in order to identify the underlying ideology of medical humanism and its future potential in medical education. This paper assumes that there are two axes of humanism: human-centeredness and anthropocentrism. Medical humanism has historically developed along the axis of human-centeredness rather than anthropocentrism, emphasizing the academic inquiry into human nature and conditions, as well as the moral element of humanity.Furthermore, this paper discusses the challenges that medical humanism faces from post-human centeredness and post-anthropocentrism, as well as the recent discourse on posthumanism. Finally, the implications of this shift in medical humanism for the education of the history of medicine are briefly explored.http://www.medhist.or.kr/upload/pdf/kjmh-32-1-115.pdfmedical humanismmedical humanitieseducation of the history of medicinecritical medical humanitieshealth humanitiesposthuman medical humanities |
| spellingShingle | Imkyung HWANG Medical Humanism in the Posthuman Era: A Critical Examination of its Past, Present, and Future Uisahak medical humanism medical humanities education of the history of medicine critical medical humanities health humanities posthuman medical humanities |
| title | Medical Humanism in the Posthuman Era: A Critical Examination of its Past, Present, and Future |
| title_full | Medical Humanism in the Posthuman Era: A Critical Examination of its Past, Present, and Future |
| title_fullStr | Medical Humanism in the Posthuman Era: A Critical Examination of its Past, Present, and Future |
| title_full_unstemmed | Medical Humanism in the Posthuman Era: A Critical Examination of its Past, Present, and Future |
| title_short | Medical Humanism in the Posthuman Era: A Critical Examination of its Past, Present, and Future |
| title_sort | medical humanism in the posthuman era a critical examination of its past present and future |
| topic | medical humanism medical humanities education of the history of medicine critical medical humanities health humanities posthuman medical humanities |
| url | http://www.medhist.or.kr/upload/pdf/kjmh-32-1-115.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT imkyunghwang medicalhumanismintheposthumaneraacriticalexaminationofitspastpresentandfuture |