Does Philosophy Have a Place in Slow Medicine?
Marisa Diaz-Waian, Authored & Presented at the 2014 American Philosophical Association (Eastern Division Conference), National Philosophical Counseling Association Meeting.
ABSTRACT: If one were to tour a museum showcasing images of how we (as a modern culture in the U.S.) tend to the changing needs of our elders, we would be hard-pressed to find a full-blown exhibit on Slow-Medicine or philosophy. This is unfortunate. In my paper, I examine the aforementioned and argue that we should strive to create new “philosophically-informed” and “attentive” pictures of aging and caring for those we love. In support of this I discuss what philosophy and Slow Medicine entail and discuss where, in the process of Slow Medicine, philosophy might play a role. In the end, I claim that there is a place for philosophy in Slow Medicine insofar as it contributes to the practice (and supports its aims), is applicable across all stations of late life, and has therapeutic and practical value in both personal and professional settings by virtue of what it brings to the caregiving (and receiving) process – the benefits of which have positive, complex and far-reaching implications. As such, an alteration in our museum layouts that reveal a dramatic change in landscape about late-life care and the import of philosophy is in order.
NOTE: This article is made available for download by permission of the author. It can also be accessed in the resources section of geriatrician, family physician & Slow Medicine practitioner, Dr. Dennis McCullough, by permission of the author.
