Kirjahaku

Merited attention to the scientific basis of Medicine should not eclipse the philosophical associations that run through its theory and practice as discussed in this book, especially its phenomenology. The role of precision in defining medical concepts like normality, knowledge, existence, signs and symptoms of disease, illness, and disability are discussed in the book; so are the controversial and divisive topics of abortion and euthanasia. Finally a plea is made for the inclusion of Darwinian Medicine in the study and understanding of many disease processes. Above all, the importance of understanding, communication, and empathy with patients in their diverse types of existential predicaments as well as their less serious medical afflictions is emphasized throughout the book.

Hope permeates our lives at every hour and minute of the day; we live with and in hope, even though we sometimes meet with disappointment when our hopes fall short of their realization. We hope for good health and happiness in the lives of our families, friends, and others. We hope for peace in the world, even though politicians thrust us into wars to boost their ratings and to save their careers at the expense of our lives while they stay home safe and protected. We hope for fewer natural disasters-tornadoes, droughts, fires, and floods. We are always trying to keep up hope in the face of the failures and tragedies of life and living. We hope for frivolous things, too. So hope is a ubiquitous concept that we employ all the time without ever stopping to reflect on its role in shaping our lives. In this book I discuss the nature of hope and the role of desire, belief, and optimism in shaping our hopes. I also discuss the phenomenology of hope, what it feels like to entertain hope. I then discuss the role of false hopes and self-deception in contributing to, and setting up the individual for hopelessness and despair, the antitheses of hope. I close with the observation that there is always hope for a better world and life beyond that of frustration, hopelessness, and despair. Sunrise, daylight, and hope will always follow the gloom and darkness of hopelessness and despair. So we should never give up hope or give in to despair in the face of whatever difficulties may be challenging us in life, because there is always hope for a way up and out of the dark pit of hopelessness and despair that lead to failure in life, but we have to work hard for the realization of that hope.

Everyone believes something. Belief is the logical and epistemic prelude to knowledge; but belief should be governed by evidence rather than by fantasy or by transcendent faith. Concepts and truth serve as background to definitions of belief and of knowledge as true belief justified by relevant evidence. Ethical theory and practice also demand similar validation. Science is regarded as the paradigm with its hypothetical-deductive method and its reliance on induction and deduction in the quest for truth. History provides important lessons in living, but it languishes from the blemish of doubt due to biased relating and interpreting of consequential facts. We all believe in the elusive self to the unfortunate point of egocentrism, narcissism, and self-deception. I discuss all the above aspects of belief and its psychology in this book.

In this book I discuss the concepts of existence and substance in relation to the nature of things, objects, and persons and their persistence through time. What is this substance that constitutes things, objects, and persons? Is it something other than the Does it exist as an identifiable entity in the form of atoms and subatomic particles like protons, neutrons, electrons, quarks, and muons, or do we make it up from our experiences of touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing that we gather from contact with our environment? How do things, objects, and persons exist and persist from moment to moment through time; are they wholly present, or do we construct them from their temporal parts or their stages that we perceive intermittently or continuously over limited periods? And how do immaterial objects like numbers and fictional objects like unicorns exist, if we can talk intelligently about them? What about our own identities; are we also temporal parts or stages of the material entities that we are, or are we different because we claim to have souls or minds that set us apart from inanimate objects and other living material bodies, viz., animals? I introduce these puzzling questions for the readers' consideration and to invite their conceivably differing opinions on them.