title: Yesterday's ethics in contemporary medicine - is it still of concern?
abstract: Discussions on questions and problems of medical ethics are on             everyone's lips. The debates center for instance around the just allocation of             public resources, demographical changes in our society or the guarantee of             patient autonomy, thus posing questions on the technical progress in modern             medicine. These contemporary conflicts in medicine are numerous, but not all             of them are new; rather, the discussion in medical ethics on these dilemmas is             bound to contexts and has historical roots. Some of these conflicts reach back             to the medicine of the Renaissance and Antiquity, thus assigning actuality to the             historical viewpoint. Taking history into account, one can benefit from a timeless             content and not least get a feeling for historicity and contingency. Considering the             creation of identity, the old authorities also represent central normative reference             points for the ethical competence of physicians understood as an attitude within             an interpersonal medicine. For this reason, the heritage of Hippocrates, which             encompasses values and norms of the Hippocratic Oath, needs to be respected.             Apart from other dimensions of knowledge and skills, the development of an             individual ethical competence also requires awareness of the past, leading to an             understanding for the historical, social and cultural relativity of medical action.
authors: Institute for Medical History and Ethics, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany. florian.steger@medizin.uni-halle.de
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Steger
mesh_terms: D026688:Bioethical Issues / Q000266:history; D004992:Ethics, Medical / Q000266:history; D005858:Germany; D049668:History, 15th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D010686:Philosophy, Medical