Plato in Contemporary Medical Ethics: Holism and Care

*Tudor-Ștefan Rotaru*

#### **Abstract**

There is a gap of twenty-four centuries between us and the Greek philosopher Plato. But what he had to say about illness, healing and the human being can be unexpectedly relevant in contemporary medical ethics. We argue that the contemporary principles of autonomy and beneficence can be revisited by means of platonic philosophy. We present an old and consistent idea of care which includes the empowerment of people in choosing the good by means of a virtuous character. We connect this idea to the contemporary notion of autonomy. We also show how a holistic approach was present for a long time in our cultural history. We argue that, despite its almost definitive loss, holism can and should be present in revisiting the principle of beneficence. For both holism and care, we provide samples of philosophical history. We conclude that an autonomous choice should be revisited as a wise choice and that medical beneficence should be reconsidered as holistic.

**Keywords:** Plato, autonomy, beneficence, care, holism

#### **1. Introduction**

Connecting the ancient philosopher Plato with contemporary medical ethics seems a bold endeavor. However, such a connection is relevant and useful. Many of the contemporary medical ethics' problems stem from how we define life, choices, beneficence and similar difficult notions. And, throughout history, the various implicit definitions of such notions have changed. Therefore, how human life was philosophically understood from one era to another had an impact on the practice of medicine. From the magical medicine of the XVIIIth century B.C. until the contemporary evidence-based medicine, the way of acting with respect to an illness, to the body and to the human being has changed [1, 2]. There is, however, one especially relevant nexus of ideas in history, with respect to how we understand life, healing and what it is to be human. This work gathers older and important ideas from its past but also serves as an influential philosophy for the whole subsequent way of Western thinking. These ideas are important now, because tracing back some crucial elements of our cultural DNA can provide valuable insights to the contemporary struggles of medical ethics. Such philosophical nexus is Plato. His Dialogs are ingrained with two key implicit notions that are essential to medicine: holism and care. We try to trace back these two implicit notions and to connect them to the contemporary principles of autonomy and beneficence. In summary, we explore what Plato can unexpectedly teach us when it comes to solving current bioethical issues.
