Methods
This paper does not present the results of an empirical study. Rather,
it proceeds by way of philosophical argument, focusing on the central
moral concepts guiding medical practice and medical education in
attending to patients’ and their families’ illness experiences. After a
brief discussion of the concepts of altruism and empathy, including how
these have been treated variously as feelings, virtues, and assessable
behaviours, the paper explores hospitality as a broad orientation or
ethos.
The paper includes what could be called a philosophical case study. As
Worthham observes, “philosophers often use hypothetical examples, or
decontextualized versions of real examples.”11 In the
present context, a decontextualized, hypothetical example might say:
“For example, if a physician is confronted with a sick child’s
distraught parents, how can this physician be attentive to the full
scope of the parents’ distress?” Such a schematic example can be useful
as a quick reminder to the reader of the type of situation in which
parental distress manifests itself, or the type of situation in which
attentiveness may be challenging. However, Worthham quite rightly points
out that “examining a fuller empirical description of a real case can
confront philosophers with dimensions that they had not
considered.”11 In this paper, the thicker description
of the context of the case, including the time of day, the age of the
child, the physician’s state of mind, the physical aspects of the
hospital, and so forth, provide greater insight into the various sources
of disorientation and displacement that call out for a hospitable
response. While the case is a composite in the sense that the details
have been taken from several real-life situations, it is representative
of a clinical scenario that regularly occurs.