Reflection And Reconstruction Of The Humanistic Spirit In Contemporary Medicine

Chapter One: why to raise the question of humanistic spirit in contemporarymedicineThere are two factors in the advancement of medicine, namely the pursuit ofmaterial profit by capital and the humanistic spirit of medicine. For the former,persons and institutions involved in medical practice can view medicine as a meansfor their material gains, and they do medical researches and practice medicine forthese gains. For the latter, medical workers should concentrate on the humanisticspirit in medicine and view it as an unconditional activity in the saving of man's life,which is the absolute driving force of the development of medicine.In medical practice, the end is man rather than the material gains brought by it. Ifthe latter becomes the end, the direction of medical development will be divertedagainst man per se, hence the alienation of medicine. Sure enough, against thebackdrop of the logic of modern capital, both of the above-mentioned two factorsindispensable. On the other hand, when the logic of capital becomes much too strongtoday, the intrinsic driving force of the development of medicine is overshadowed,which will certainly lead the development of medicine down a technical road, fartherand farther from the humanistic spirit of medicine.The humanistic spirit of medicine can promote the development of medicine andprovide various conceptions of value for medical development. Contemporarymedicine evolves itself in the environment of market economy and the logic of capital.The management conception, research directions and running mechanisms ofmedicine are all spread against this same backdrop. Therefore, the reconstruction ofthe humanistic spirit of medicine is of great value for modern medicine to adapt itsfuture development with this background. Chapter Two: what is the humanistic spirit of medicineThe concept of humanistic spirit is the precondition for the understanding of thehumanistic spirit of medicine. The latter is merely a manifestation of the former in thefield of medicine. The metaphysical tendency of man includes four levels: the love ofwisdom, the longing for goodness, the quest for beauty and respect and awe for life.The mental world constructed by these four aspects is humanistic spirit. Thehumanistic spirit of medicine is a concrete manifestation of the four aspects in thefield of medicine.First of all, persistence with the scientific spirit. It reflects the scientific attitudeof researchers, i.e. the love of wisdom. This attitude is a manifestation of thehumanistic spirit. Second, the longing for goodness. This tendency exerts its power indifferent branches of medicine including clinic, preventive medicine, health care,nursing, etc. In these medical activities, medical workers stick to the moral rules,which makes it reveal the human nature of longing for goodness. This is anotheraspect of the humanistic spirit of medicine. While at the same time, theabove-mentioned activities not only stem from the morality of medical workers, andthey are also closely related to their conception of aesthetics. This on the one handmakes the labor of medical worker free labor instead of alienated labor like burdens,while at the same time, the outcome of these activities agrees with the requirement ofaesthetics. Last but not least, all medical activities should center on the natural life ofman. The respect and awe of the lives of patients by medical students and workersmakes the respect and awe for life an eternal theme of medicine.Chapter Three: the evolution of the humanistic spirit of medicine from theperspective of medical historyWe divide the development process of the humanistic spirit of medicine into fourphases, with every advancement and evolution of medical service and the humanisticspirit of medicine corresponding to the change and evolution of the philosophicalthinking of man together with the awakening of man's self-consciousness. First, themythological expression of the humanistic spirit of medicine. At this phase, manworship mythology, wizardry, ghosts, etc. Medicine at this period of time focused mainly on the accumulation of experience and the treatment of this time comesmainly from man's instinct. The humanistic spirit of medicine manifests itself in thewizard-like way of practicing medicine. Second, the empirical cultural expression ofthe humanistic spirit of medicine. This phase witnessed man's liberation fromprimitive religion and mythology, while at the same time, the realm of man's medicalpractice gets larger and larger. More experience is accumulated and medicine starts tohave its own value. Medical disciplines are constructed and relevant value system isalso formed. Technical innovation and creation is witnessed and institutionalimprovement is gradually accomplished. People's way of thinking in this fieldundergoes great transformation and change. The humanistic spirit of medicinemanifests itself mainly in its empirical self-consistency. Third, the rational andscientific expression of the humanistic spirit of medicine. The scientificism,rationalism, skepticism, and positivism all shed light on the humanistic spirit ofmedicine. All these factors change medicine from empirical to rational medicine,while at the same time, mechanistic, causal way of thinking has its full swing and manare more and more treated like machines, and they become less and less invisible infront of technology, which in the final analysis causes the conflict between scienceand the humanistic spirit. At this phase of development, the humanistic spirit ofmedicine lies in the self-conscious rationalism. Fourth, modern reflection on rationalmedicine. Rational medicine greatly promoted modern medicine and medicaltreatment, while rationalistic way of thinking and its serious consequences deserveour reflection and rethinking. Its universally applicable technological means anddifferences between individuals and their implication for the humanistic spirit ofmedicine deserve our further exploration.Chapter Four: alienation of modern medicine and the principles for thereconstruction of the humanistic spirit of medicineThis chapter focuses on the alienation of medicine and the principles guiding thereconstruction of the humanistic spirit of medicine. Alienation of medicine can befurther divided into internal and external alienation. Internal alienation refers to thedilemma medicine encounters due to the characteristics of its own way of thinking, which seriously hinders the accomplishment of its own purposes. External alienationrefers to the difficulties medicine meet which are derived from the out environment ofmarket economy, and this also hinders the realization of its purpose and its protectionof human life. The former is alienation of the internal way of thinking on whichmedicine relies, while the latter is alienation derived from the outer environment. Thethree most important principles guiding the reconstruction of medicine include: thereconstruction of the scientific spirit, the reconstruction of the life principle and thereconstruction of the humanitarian principle.Chapter Five: approaches for the reconstruction of the humanistic spirit ofmedicineAs the critic of capitalism and the initiator of communism, Marx expressed hisinsightful view on the logic of capital and the very nature of capitalist society, and atthe same time, he also developed a new theory to supersede capitalism, namelycommunist theory. This theory is meant to change the alienation of labor, man andsociety and realize freedom, equality, etc in the real sense of the words. Thereconstruction of the humanistic spirit of medicine does not lie in the quest for aneternal and everlasting ontological world out of the real world man lives in. Thisapproach pursues an absolute truth and eternal value in a perverted way anddehumanizes medical workers by elevating them to a holy position and the medicalprofession a holy profession. This approach accords with the spiritual nature and wayof thinking of Marxist philosophy and has as its starting point man's real world andhuman practice. From this starting point, it criticizes capitalist society and thetheoretical premises of modern society, while at the same time, it discards thealienation problem brought by the logic of capital. It therefore really solves theproblem of alienation in the medical field and constructs in a rational way the valuesystem of the humanistic spirit of contemporary medicine.