The Ethics of Medical Homicide and Mutilation

O‘Malley, Austin, 1858-1932Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.9

Word count: 608K words
Chapters: 61

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Ethics of Medical Homicide and Mutilation by Austin O'MalleyAuthor: O'Malley, Austin, 1858-1932,Language: English, Class: R: Medicine, Release Date: May 22, 2013

Editor's review

This book is a discussion of medical ethics written in the early twentieth century by the Irish-American physician and author Austin O'Malley. It centers on the sharp concepts of "medical homicide" and "medical mutilation" and touches on the limits of surgery, end-of-life treatment, bodily integrity, and the physician's responsibility. Its value lies not in offering today's clinical standards but in showing how a practicing physician more than a century ago examined the limits of medical intervention in the language of moral philosophy; readers can thus see the historical forerunners of contemporary medical ethics debates. The writing is argumentative and its conceptual reasoning dense, making it suitable as supplementary reading for courses in the history of ethics and medical humanities. It should be read as a historical text rather than a practical guide, with attention to the differences between the legal and religious contexts of the time and contemporary standards, and with critical distance from expressions that may discomfort modern readers.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of medical humanities and bioethics who need to understand the historical origins of the field
Readers interested in medical ideas of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Medical professionals engaged in clinical ethics discussions who want to add a historical perspective
Readers accustomed to argumentative English texts who are willing to take critical notes

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking contemporary standards of clinical ethics practice
Readers impatient with religious and moral-argumentative prose
Beginners with limited English reading ability who need a Chinese translation

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and chapter titles first to clarify the author's definitions of "homicide" and "mutilation," then move into the specific arguments.
After each chapter, record the author's thesis and evidence in one or two sentences to make it easier to review the overall structure.
Annotate against contemporary medical ethics principles, marking which concerns have been addressed by institutions and which remain disputed.
Passages heavy with religious or period coloring can be skipped at first and reassessed for their argumentative role after finishing the book.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Does this book discuss euthanasia in the modern sense?

Not exactly. The author uses the broader, old-fashioned expression "medical homicide," covering various circumstances in which physicians ended life in the context of the time; it is not equivalent to contemporary legal and clinical discussions of euthanasia. It should be understood within the moral philosophy and medical context of the early twentieth century rather than directly fitted into today's categories.

Can readers without a medical background understand it?

Yes, but patience is needed. The arguments rest mainly on moral philosophy and professional ethics rather than technical clinical details, so non-medical readers will not be blocked by specialist terminology; however, the style is argumentative and the sentences are long, so slow reading with notes and background materials is recommended.

This is a public-domain e-book; how reliable is the edition?

The book comes from Project Gutenberg and is a public-domain electronic text available free of charge. Such texts are usually proofread, but layout and notes may differ between editions. When citing, check the original page numbers or chapter locations and refer to a formal publication or academic database version as a reference.

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About the author

O‘Malley, Austin, 1858-1932 Author

Austin O'Malley (1858-1932) was an English-language author active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Public information about him is limited, and many details of his life remain unknown. Judging from the only work recorded in the collection, The Ethics of Medical Homicide and Mutilation, he was concerned with the ethical boundaries of medical practice, discussing the moral and legal responsibilities involved when medical acts cause death or bodily mutilation. Such subject matter was relatively rare in English-language writing on medical ethics at the time, showing an authorial orientation that combined medical and legal concerns. His writing is marked by a focused argument and rigorous reasoning, with clear organization, and tends toward an argumentative style aimed at professional readers and public debate. Although his output was small, the issues raised in this book remain relevant to later discussions of bioethics and medical negligence, and it is often regarded as one of the earlier documents in medical ethics.