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APA Newsletters

Fall 2006
Volume 06, Number 1

Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine

From the Chair

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On Compassion, Collaboration, and Some Things Coming Up

David DeGrazia

With summer beginning and the three Divisional meetings for 2005-06 in the past, it seems a good time to record some notes on the Philosophy and Medicine Committee’s activities.

My previous column discussed the panel we ran at the Eastern Division meeting in Boston, so let me move to those that took place this spring. At the Central Division meeting in Chicago, Lee Brown of our committee chaired a panel on the role of compassion in medical education and clinical practice. The speakers were Laura Ekstrom (William and Mary), Gordon Greene (University of Hawaii–Manoa), committee member Ben Rich (University of California–Davis), Sandra Shapshay (Indiana University), Howard Shapiro (Yale), and Angelo Volandes (Harvard). As Lee related afterwards, the panel addressed, among other themes, the concept of compassion and its relation to pity, sympathy, and empathy; their roles in humane treatment; the distinction between technical competence and humane competence; the effects of a work environment in which doctors are encouraged to spend little time with each patient; the optimal quality of contact between doctors and patients; the ways in which medical education desensitizes future practitioners; and the effects of sensitivity on patient recovery. Following the talks, interactions between the panel and audience were animated and illuminating. Panelists agreed that the topic merited a day-long event, so Lee is exploring the possibility of organizing such a program at Howard University. I was delighted to hear this report of our panel at the Central meeting.

I am equally pleased by the developing collaboration between our (American Philosophical Association) committee and the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH). As discussed in my previous column, a panel organized by Rosamond Rhodes—coeditor of our newsletter and ex officio committee member—on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Belmont Report ran at both the annual ASBH meeting in Washington, D.C., last October and the Eastern APA meeting in New York last December. Now we have arranged with ASBH for the panel organized by committee member Mary Rorty for the recent Pacific meeting in Portland, OR—"What’s Wrong with Medicalizing?"—to reconvene next fall at ASBH’s annual meeting in Denver. In the recent Pacific incarnation, in addition to Mary, who served as chair, the panelists were Felicia Nimue Ackerman (Brown), John Hardwig (University of Tennessee), and James Nelson (Michigan State). By all reports, it was highly successful. When it reconvenes in Denver, the panel will be of special interest to ASBH members who are not members of the APA or who were unable to attend the session in Portland. Prospects are bright for continuing such APA-ASBH panel sharing in the foreseeable future.

Looking to the upcoming academic year, our committee has begun plans for panels at the three meetings. Bob Baker is organizing a panel, to take place at the Eastern meeting in Washington, D.C., on ethical issues pertaining to epidemics, natural disasters, and bioterrorism. So far he has lined up Zeke Emanuel (NIH), Bonnie Steinbock (SUNY), and Dan Brock (Harvard) as speakers. (Having not heard any of these scholars address this particular set of issues, I am especially looking forward to this.) Meanwhile, Gary Seay has agreed to constitute a panel tentatively entitled, "Parental Discretion in Decision-Making for Children: The Case of Genetic Testing for Adult-Onset Disorders," for the Pacific meeting in San Francisco. And Mark Sheldon is working on a panel on ethical and philosophical issues connected with the pharmaceutical industry for the Central meeting in Chicago.

In addition to planning panels, the committee is undertaking to update our webpage. We will replace the 1997 survey of bioethics programs (primarily a list) with links to several up-to-date listings. The improved webpage will also include the Newsletters we have published since 2000 and more comprehensive information on our panels. In consultation with the APA, we may make other improvements.

In closing, one more piece of good news. I had expected in this column to wish the best to Lee Brown, whose three-year term was coming to an end. But, energized by the panel he organized and noting his earlier inability to participate fully due to medical issues, Lee requested another year on the committee—a request I enthusiastically endorsed. Thanks to Bill Mann, acting executive director of the APA, for giving Lee and the rest of the committee another year of collaboration.

Best wishes for the summer.

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