Ou wyn in nuwe sakke: werk die ou etiek vir die nuwe geneeskunde?

Abstract

Old wine in new skins: Does the old ethics work for the new medicine?

This article investigates and analyses the shifts that have taken place in the discourse about morality and ethics as they have developed in the history of Western medicine. The author argues that many of the forms of moral reasoning aligned to certain practices of medical care in the past have become inappropriate and obsolete for the challenges of a new, postmodern situation in medical care. He specifically investigates the consciousness of limits which is characteristic of the contemporary discourse on medical ethics, and in this regard analyses three manifestations of these limits, viz. the limits of competence, of compassion and of the rights ofphysicians.