A phenomenological philosopher, I became deeply involved in healthcare education and clinical ethics for the last thirty years of my career, which concluded as the A. G. Stahlman Professor of Medical Ethics
In the first part of this Chapter there is a brief review of my personal experiences with Dorion ... more In the first part of this Chapter there is a brief review of my personal experiences with Dorion Cairns, including how and why I came to become his Literary Executor. The Chapter then provides a focused overview of his philosophical life and central ideas, especially his life-long reflections centered on unraveling and developing appropriate language to express adequately and accurately the Husserlian conception of phenomenological method, especially evident, Cairns shows, in Husserl’s exploration of what, in his Logical Investigations, he refers to what the “cautiously shrewd person” does when faced with what is believed to be showed turns out to reveal the basic features of that method. Our already acquired familiarity, in short, especially when matters are vitally important, provides the soundest clue to understanding what Husserl frequently called the fundamental principle of phenomenological method.
I want to pick up where I left off in Chap. 3. In some respects, it is peculiar that, in the face... more I want to pick up where I left off in Chap. 3. In some respects, it is peculiar that, in the face of the resounding backlash against ‘Big Ethics,’ as it was often called in the 1970s, some physicians continued to entertain the notion that philosophers should, and some of them argued must, become “involved” in clinical medicine. Around the same time (early 1980s) as Alan Fleischman was putting his program for residents in place, for instance, the pediatrician Tomas Silber stated his belief that without such actual, regular involvement in clinical affairs, what he termed the “data base” for understanding, much less contending productively with, the moral issues he regarded as inherent to the daily practice of at least pediatric medicine, would be plainly missing. Precisely that “base” is necessary, he argued, for the medical tasks at hand in any clinical situation. Thus, quite understandably, Silber lamented the “absence of these professionals”—that is, philosophers—“from our daily li...
Philosophica: International Journal for the History of Philosophy, 2018
After a brief review of some of the issues facing ethicists becoming involved in actual clinical ... more After a brief review of some of the issues facing ethicists becoming involved in actual clinical situations, as I experienced these at the beginning of my career, I present a detailed narrative focused on a encounter I had with parents of a badly damaged neonate, a situation for which I was asked to provide a consultation focused on unstated ethical issues. The narrative continues through these issues and concludes with what parents described as an acceptable resolution. The essay concludes with a brief indication of what are taken as the basic issues in the situation.
especially true where it is a question of critically assessing the status and stature of the form... more especially true where it is a question of critically assessing the status and stature of the formal study of human affairs. Charges, countercharges, pronouncements and refutations, and the other cultivated academic rituals are perhaps the common fare. But it is not always true that the foes, each firmly planted atop his own favorite theoretical mount, have faced each other squarely, or even clearly distinguished one another from a multitude of mere windmills. The rush of wind is terrific, but not always directed at more than shadows although, oddly, the comedy of these fury-driven sallies has rarely itself received comment. Apparently, the search for knowledge whether ’scientific’ or not seems passionately wedded to such utter seriousness as to preclude the recognition of many of the delightful ironies on the scene. The present-day situation is hardly an exception indeed the deadly if
In the first part of this Chapter there is a brief review of my personal experiences with Dorion ... more In the first part of this Chapter there is a brief review of my personal experiences with Dorion Cairns, including how and why I came to become his Literary Executor. The Chapter then provides a focused overview of his philosophical life and central ideas, especially his life-long reflections centered on unraveling and developing appropriate language to express adequately and accurately the Husserlian conception of phenomenological method, especially evident, Cairns shows, in Husserl’s exploration of what, in his Logical Investigations, he refers to what the “cautiously shrewd person” does when faced with what is believed to be showed turns out to reveal the basic features of that method. Our already acquired familiarity, in short, especially when matters are vitally important, provides the soundest clue to understanding what Husserl frequently called the fundamental principle of phenomenological method.
I want to pick up where I left off in Chap. 3. In some respects, it is peculiar that, in the face... more I want to pick up where I left off in Chap. 3. In some respects, it is peculiar that, in the face of the resounding backlash against ‘Big Ethics,’ as it was often called in the 1970s, some physicians continued to entertain the notion that philosophers should, and some of them argued must, become “involved” in clinical medicine. Around the same time (early 1980s) as Alan Fleischman was putting his program for residents in place, for instance, the pediatrician Tomas Silber stated his belief that without such actual, regular involvement in clinical affairs, what he termed the “data base” for understanding, much less contending productively with, the moral issues he regarded as inherent to the daily practice of at least pediatric medicine, would be plainly missing. Precisely that “base” is necessary, he argued, for the medical tasks at hand in any clinical situation. Thus, quite understandably, Silber lamented the “absence of these professionals”—that is, philosophers—“from our daily li...
Philosophica: International Journal for the History of Philosophy, 2018
After a brief review of some of the issues facing ethicists becoming involved in actual clinical ... more After a brief review of some of the issues facing ethicists becoming involved in actual clinical situations, as I experienced these at the beginning of my career, I present a detailed narrative focused on a encounter I had with parents of a badly damaged neonate, a situation for which I was asked to provide a consultation focused on unstated ethical issues. The narrative continues through these issues and concludes with what parents described as an acceptable resolution. The essay concludes with a brief indication of what are taken as the basic issues in the situation.
especially true where it is a question of critically assessing the status and stature of the form... more especially true where it is a question of critically assessing the status and stature of the formal study of human affairs. Charges, countercharges, pronouncements and refutations, and the other cultivated academic rituals are perhaps the common fare. But it is not always true that the foes, each firmly planted atop his own favorite theoretical mount, have faced each other squarely, or even clearly distinguished one another from a multitude of mere windmills. The rush of wind is terrific, but not always directed at more than shadows although, oddly, the comedy of these fury-driven sallies has rarely itself received comment. Apparently, the search for knowledge whether ’scientific’ or not seems passionately wedded to such utter seriousness as to preclude the recognition of many of the delightful ironies on the scene. The present-day situation is hardly an exception indeed the deadly if
Uploads
Papers by Richard Zaner