Philosophical Physicians Blog Posts

What Plato understood is that the hardest part of the allegory is not leaving the cave, but returning. When the freed prisoner returns to the cave and tells the others what she has seen, they do not believe her. The shadows still make more sense to them. I understand that instinct deeply. I once shared it. The possibility of an entirely other world, other reality, out there feels too enormous to accept. 

By Aristotelian standards, modern residency training stands in direct conflict with human flourishing. The traits Aristotle identified as essential to a good life are frequently treated as liabilities rather than aims: wisdom and contemplation as hesitation, fairness as softness, moderation as lack of commitment.

This leaves an open question that utilitarianism itself cannot resolve: is medical training merely a system for delivering outcomes or is it also a moral practice concerned with who physicians become in the process? 

The hidden curriculum teaches that endurance is virtue, silence is safer, and that being treated as less than human is the price of admission. Deontology rejects that logic entirely. If residents are people of intrinsic value, then their dignity cannot be suspended for training. Their humanity is not a negotiable cost.