Abstract
Bodies do not suffer, only persons do [1]. This fundamental fact of suffering is revealed because in all the situations in which suffering comes about the meaning of the occurrence to the person and the person’s perception of the future are crucial. Whether the stimulus is, for example, pain or other physical symptoms, or perhaps bereavement, or even hopelessness, the meaning of what is happening and its perceived future are crucial in determining whether suffering will follow. Bodies have nociception and bodies may have neuroendocrine responses to emotional stimuli, but bodies do not have a sense of the future and bodies do not know meanings, only persons do.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
I use the term clinician, as noted above, to refer to those who take care of patients sick or well. There are professionals in medicine who are devoted solely to disease or its manifestation, others are historians of medicine, and still others are administrators, and so on. These (nonclinicians) can think about sick people and disease in the abstract, but clinicians (whether they are physicians or not) must ultimately think about the sick person even if they are most interested in diseases because it is the sick person diseased or otherwise who confronts them.
References
Cassell EJ. The nature of suffering. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press; 2004.
Kraemer HC. Evaluating medical tests: objective and quantitative guidelines. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications; 1992.
Wouters A. The function debate in philosophy [review]. Acta Biotheor. 2005;53:123–51.
WHO. International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Geneva: WHO; 2001.
Drum CE, Horner-Jonson W, Krahn GL. Self-rated health and healthy days: examining the “disability paradox”. Disab Health. 2008;1(2):71–8.
Stewart AL, Ware JE, editors. Measuring functioning and well-being: the medical outcomes study approach. Durham, NC: Duke University Press; 1992.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cassell, E.J. (2011). Suffering, Whole Person Care, and the Goals of Medicine. In: Hutchinson, T. (eds) Whole Person Care. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9440-0_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9440-0_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-9439-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-9440-0
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)