Doyle, John P.

Snell, Priscilla

English

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 43 | Number 4 Article 1211-1-1976[Book Review of ] Two Comments on: Medicine andChristian Morality, by Thomas J. O 'Donnell, S.J.John P. DoylePriscilla SnellFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqPart of the Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, and the Medicine and Health SciencesCommonsRecommended CitationDoyle, John P. and Snell, Priscilla (1976) "[Book Review of] Two Comments on: Medicine and Christian Morality, by Thomas J. O'Donnell, S.J.," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 43: No. 4, Article 12.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol43/iss4/12Book Reviews Two Comments on: Medicine and Christian Morality Thomas J. O 'Donnell, S.J. Alba HOl/se, 2187 Victory Blud., Stalen Island. N.)' .. /0314, /976. VI + 329 p .. $7.95. Fathe r O'Donnell tells us thal the title of this work, which was begun as u th ird revision of his Morals in J\1edicine (\Vestminster, The Newm;:m Press, 1956), "represeni!! a more honest confrontation wit h our contempora ry scene. " I Cllnnot believe it. Denying the existence of "Medical Ethics" as such. O'Donnell Prol)()ses to ex tend "b roader ph ilosophical and theological principles" into the area of medical practice. Mos tly he derives such principles from palmi teaching and from Canon Law. Where he does reason in ph ilosophical fashion. he normally a rgues more like a mathematician than an ethici~t. Relying little upon experi· ence and paying sca n t atlent ion to the myriad situations in which human actions must be Illa{'f~d, he prefers time nnd again to go deductively from un· changi ng universal principles to equally unchanging particular conclusions. W hile some of his sta rting poin ts ure indeed b~sic and f~r reaching (e.g. t he dictum that since we a re God's creatures, we do not own ourselves but have even in our own regard at most a kind of s tewardship) others (e.g. allparentiy every s tatute of the 1918 Code of Canon Law) seem less compelling. In this last connection. not only doell Father O' Donnell ignore the fac t that the 1918 Code is presently being revised, but he also shows Smlll1 knowledgl' of current medicnl, Ilhilosophicnl. Ilnd theologica l litera ture in the field of h is conce rn. In over th ree hundred p~lges of text and footno tes, I have {'Ounted but seven refe rences to material published from 1970 on. I n the areH of theology, al>ar t from a few nods to 51. Thomas Aquimls, the usual lIuthors cited a re Scholastit, manual.islll, most of them 19th o r early 20t h century figures such as Palm ieri , Ballerin i, Bucceroni , Lehmkuhl. Noldin. Tamluerey, and Ver· meersch. About the latest writers mentioned are Kelly, Connell. and Connery from the 1940's and SO's. Conspic uously absent from this " honest con fronta· tion" are people like Hari ng, McCormick. C urran. May. Noonan. Grisez. Ramsey, Gustafson, Springer, Callahan. and Dedek. The only front rank ("u r· rent na me which I have found ii'! that of Joseph FI" tener, wnose views on euthanasia a re summarized and dismissed in one b rief pa rag raph of 13 line9. As fo r s ubject matter, following three cha pters devoted to (I) a genflra lly leg~listic "Background.'" (2) "Basic Principles:' and (3) "j'luman Life -Responsibi lity and Rights," O'Donnell restricts himself to (4 ) '"Moral Aspects of Surgery and Suppressive Therapy" (the keys here lire the Principle of Totality a nd the Principle of Double Effect ), (5) "Moral Aspects of Preg· nancy and Delivery" (again the Principle of Double Effect ) , (6) "Me<lico· Canonical · Mon:.1 Aspects of M(lrriage" (i ncluding what every physician should know about the diriment imllediments of "disparity of cult:' " Sac red Orde rs:' "solemn re ligious profession," and '"sl>iritual relationship"). und (7) "Pro· fessional Secrecy." Subjects I missed were Genetk Engineering, Genetic Coun · 296 Linacre Quarterly seii ng, and Homosexuality. Also I would have liked more in depth discussion of the individual humanity of the fetus (here a good place to start would have been Dr. J. J. Diamond's article, "Abortion, Animation and Biological Homini -zation," in Theological Studies, v, 36, no. 2 [June, 19751), In fine, O'Donnell's book might have been all right in ]956, but fo r an honest confrontation with the contem]lQra ry scene in 1976, it leaves much to be desired, -John p , Doyle, Ph,D" Professor of Philosophy St, Louis University The purpose of this book is to select some of the salient features from the three disciplines of ethics, moral theology. a nd Canon Law as they relate to the art and science of medicine. Ethics, of course, is concerned with the good-ness or evil of human actions in the light of reason. Moral theology deab with the morality of human actions conside red in the light of man's supernatural destiny with the added assist.:ance of divine revelation. Canon Law investigates the meaning and interpretation of positive Church Law governing the external conduct of the baptized as members of the Catholic Church. ApI)lying basic l)finciples drawn from these disciplines, Ihe a uthor considers a va riety of ethical problems related to the theory and practice of medicine. Afte r a brief explanation of the Chu rch 's understanding of herself, her au-Ihority, and her mission, the author considers the nature of law, its r~llltionshi[l to the common good and to the individua l. and Ihe considerations which en ter into moral choice. The inviolability of humHn life is derived from previous con · siderations regarding the existence of God and the nature of man. Absolute dominion over human life is an exl'iusively divine prerogat ive. Among Ihe prob· lems considered in this context a re euthanasia, suicide, the prolongation of lifc in terminal illness, human experimentation and clinical research. In the course of professional I)raetice, the doctor may be called upon to undertake procedures which call for the removal of some organ or the suppression of its fun ction in the interests of the whole body. Most of the!!IC I)rocedures a re governed by the principal of totality - that is, thllt all paris of the humun body, as parts, are meant to exist and fun ction for the good of the whole, and are thus naturally subordinated to that good. The re fore, the I)hysician can, when Ihe good of the whole demands it, paralyze. destroy, mutilate or separate the members. In this !lCCtion the author considers s uch matters as l)focedures within the generative system, SUI)pression or excision of a henlthy urgan. ~host surgery, residency training surge ry. l)sychothera l)Y, hypnotism, determinat ion of dinieal death, ste rilization and hysterectomy. Milny of the most common a nd diffi~ult moral problems confronting thc I)hysician arise out of complications which develol) in the cou rse of pregnancy o r at. the time of delivery. The inviolabi lity of human life dictates ihnt the destruction of one life cannot be the means of saving another. Frequently, the principle of double effect may be invoked to de termine what can be done. Ac· (.'Ording to this principle, an action, good in itself, which has an intended and not otherwise attainable good effect but also a permitted evil effect, may licitly be done provided there is II due IJrol)()rtion between the intended good and the permitted flvil. This sect ion deals with such problems 1IS abortion, b reast ~ancer, leukemia , psychiatric illness, maternal rubella and 'others less well-known or widflspread. In connection wilh marriage, cer tain pertinent moral a nd canonical concellts a re d iscussed thllt might prove helpful to the physiciun. In-duded in Ihis discussion are ce rtain impediments to marriagfl, family planning nnd fflrtili ty controL and mora] aspects of such problems us iml)()tence, sterility, November, 1976 297 masturbation, Onanism, Ilrti fi cial insemination, and rape. F inally, the a uthor consideJ"8 the obligat ions of professional sec recy and the duty of the physician to hel l) the patien t become aware of imp·ending death. The a l>l>endix contains the "Et hical a nd Religious Directives for Catholic Health Facil ities" issued in 1971 by the United S tates Catholic Conference. The author. Thomas J . O'Donnell , S.J., is well·quali fied in the fi eld of medicl\ l ethics having been a professor of Medical Et hics at Georgetown Universi ty. School of Medicine, regent of the School of Medici ne, !I vice-p resident of the National Society fo r Medical Resea rch, the National K idney Fou ndation and the Transplant Counci l. This book, in my opinion, would be invaluable to anyone working in the field of medici ne or health care present ing. as it does. traditional Catholic doct rine as it rela tes to the theory and pract ice o f medicine. -Sister Priscilla Snell, D.P. Operating on the 1l1ind· The Psychosurgery COllflict W illard M. Gaylin, M.D., Joel S. Meister, Ph .D., and Robert C. Neville, Ph.D., ed itors Basic Books. Inc .. Publishers. 10 E . 53rd SI .. New )'ork. N. Y. 10022. 1976. VIIl + 216 p .. $11.95. This monograph was developed a He r a series o f semi nars conducted by a behavio ral control task fonoe of the Institute of Society, Ethics and the Li fe Sciences. I ts aim was to IJresent a thoughtful, balanced presentation of the arguments and controversies su r rounding brain surgery for behavior disordefll. Contributions from dynamic psychiatry. neurology, philosophy and law make this an important book. Although Ihe flu thors are someti mes critical of neuro-surgical practices, their comments are couched in considerate and tather re-s trained language , u welcome relief from the emotionally chll rged and often uns ubs ta nt iated rheto ric of other writers. The cri ticlli discussion of certnin uSI>ects of this book should not obscure the perspective of this review. The ove rall impression is fa vorable. and c rit ical comments are not meant to cast uspersions on any of the a uthors o r their contributions. Willard Gayl in is an eminent analy tical psychi a tris t who presents his a rgu-ments skillfully and demonstrates that he has put a g reat deal of thought into the broader problems of ethi L'S a nd med icine: yet . h is ch.t pte r is l>e rvaded with an a nti-"o rganic" or .. nti ·medical bias. Fo r eXHm l)le. he feels tha t the use of .1n "organic" or medical model as a cri terion fo r brain ol>erations in I)atients with brain d isease 3nd ubnonnal behavior is irrelevant. He s uggests " that it is the functioni ng of the individual that conce rns us, and that we do not t reat some theoretical o rgan ic integ rity." He ci tes examples of operations on nonnal tissue to relieve symlJtoms in u Sl>cclrum of medical problems , as for instance the removal of hea lthy skin from the buttock fo r a skin graft to a deforming scat of the faLoe. to subs tantiate h is a rgument. HOweve r. he may be L'O nfusing the issue by interposing value systems used in dyn3mic I)sychi;ltry into othe r fi elds o f 298 Linacre Quarterly 

[Book Review of] \u3cem\u3eTwo Comments on: Medicine and Christian Morality\u3c/em\u3e, by Thomas J. O \u27Donnell, S.J.

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[Book Review of] \u3cem\u3eTwo Comments on: Medicine and Christian Morality\u3c/em\u3e, by Thomas J. O \u27Donnell, S.J.

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