Phenomenology and Eastern Christian Patristic Practices: A Dialogue on Empathy and the Re-enchantment of Clinical Care in the 21st Century
Mariana Cuceu, M.D., PhD. Candidate, Affiliate Program on Medicine and Religion, The University of Chicago
Ricardo Moreno, MS candidate, Catholic Theological Union
Just over a century since Max Weber first identified how modern rationality led to disenchantment, the early evolution of the 21st century postmodern intellectual environment suggests that the nadir of disenchantment may soon pass. The Weberian rationalization of Western medicine, especially in America, began in earnest with Sir William Osler. Osler pioneered the intellectualization and rationalization of medical practice that, in turn, has prized the physician's detachment from the patient. Yet, ironically, the rise of evidence-based medicine, quality metrics, and the digitization of medical records have helped precipitate a renewed interest in the human dimension of medicine. The nascent move towards the re-enchantment of medical practice potentially heralds the re-visioning of medicine not only as a science but an art—the return of the medical arts as rooted in human experience and powerfully shaped by empathy between physician and patient. To focus this discussion, a more robust and phenomenological account of empathy will be developed from within this philosophical tradition, especially in reference to the work of Emmanuel Levinas. Methodologically, a phenomenological elucidation of the development of empathy can reveal the contours upon which emphatic relationships between patients and physicians can re-enchant the field of medical care and medicine. Applying phenomenological approaches to looking at the relationships between physicians and patients calls into question the very categories such as “detached” and “objective” which represent today the gold standard for effective medical interventions. But is this a gold standard of humane care? Given that a physician act of healing of a patient involves an intimate human encounter upon which health outcomes and even mortality rest, having a philosophically rendering of this human encounter opens up new possibilities—possibilities for 21st century re-enchantment. One important vector to be discussed for a new re-enchantment of medicine is the rediscovery and reapplication of the insights of the Christian Fathers of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. From the purpose of this Eastern Christian theological tradition, the virtue of charity represents a call from God to go beyond the boundaries of one's own self. The practice of healing through medicine represents an embodiment of both the duty and the transformative potential found in the commands from God as understood by the Eastern Christian tradition. Charitable work, including medical practice, itself embodies a phenomenological turn that calls into question the normative realities of the world and its terms and definitions and opens up all to God. Finally, combining phenomenology with insights from Eastern Christian theology new norms that re-enchant medicine and improve healthcare can form. We will be bring into discussion and build upon some pioneering norms, with respect to psychotherapy, that Una McCluskey develops in To Be Met as a Person: The Dynamics of Attachment in Professional Encounters that center the idea of “goal-corrected emphatic atonement” as essential to the relationship between the caregiver and care seeker. This discussion will mainly focus on how medical practice generally can benefit from the dialogue between these areas of thought and how these can provide an enchanting pathway of consideration.
Ricardo Moreno, MS candidate, Catholic Theological Union
Just over a century since Max Weber first identified how modern rationality led to disenchantment, the early evolution of the 21st century postmodern intellectual environment suggests that the nadir of disenchantment may soon pass. The Weberian rationalization of Western medicine, especially in America, began in earnest with Sir William Osler. Osler pioneered the intellectualization and rationalization of medical practice that, in turn, has prized the physician's detachment from the patient. Yet, ironically, the rise of evidence-based medicine, quality metrics, and the digitization of medical records have helped precipitate a renewed interest in the human dimension of medicine. The nascent move towards the re-enchantment of medical practice potentially heralds the re-visioning of medicine not only as a science but an art—the return of the medical arts as rooted in human experience and powerfully shaped by empathy between physician and patient. To focus this discussion, a more robust and phenomenological account of empathy will be developed from within this philosophical tradition, especially in reference to the work of Emmanuel Levinas. Methodologically, a phenomenological elucidation of the development of empathy can reveal the contours upon which emphatic relationships between patients and physicians can re-enchant the field of medical care and medicine. Applying phenomenological approaches to looking at the relationships between physicians and patients calls into question the very categories such as “detached” and “objective” which represent today the gold standard for effective medical interventions. But is this a gold standard of humane care? Given that a physician act of healing of a patient involves an intimate human encounter upon which health outcomes and even mortality rest, having a philosophically rendering of this human encounter opens up new possibilities—possibilities for 21st century re-enchantment. One important vector to be discussed for a new re-enchantment of medicine is the rediscovery and reapplication of the insights of the Christian Fathers of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. From the purpose of this Eastern Christian theological tradition, the virtue of charity represents a call from God to go beyond the boundaries of one's own self. The practice of healing through medicine represents an embodiment of both the duty and the transformative potential found in the commands from God as understood by the Eastern Christian tradition. Charitable work, including medical practice, itself embodies a phenomenological turn that calls into question the normative realities of the world and its terms and definitions and opens up all to God. Finally, combining phenomenology with insights from Eastern Christian theology new norms that re-enchant medicine and improve healthcare can form. We will be bring into discussion and build upon some pioneering norms, with respect to psychotherapy, that Una McCluskey develops in To Be Met as a Person: The Dynamics of Attachment in Professional Encounters that center the idea of “goal-corrected emphatic atonement” as essential to the relationship between the caregiver and care seeker. This discussion will mainly focus on how medical practice generally can benefit from the dialogue between these areas of thought and how these can provide an enchanting pathway of consideration.