CLINICAL (CRYPTO) PATERNALISM OF K. JASPERS

Abstract

One of the central themes in the philosophical heritage of Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) was the theme of communication, including clinical communication. Karl Jaspers’s position pertinent to clinical paternalism is of particular interest, and this is what we explore in this paper. For Jaspers, a doctor’s attitude to a patient ought to be guided by therapeutic appropriateness of the measure and the openness that the patient is capable of taking. However, in ordinary, routine situations this is often an arbitrary choice between the default and frankness. Nevertheless, he considered paternalistic attitude towards the patient a necessary precondition for effective treatment in a routine medical practice. Generally, a doctor is bound to act in a paternalistic manner. Jaspers distinguishes two clinical forms of paternalism: rigorous and demonstrative; and more yielding and subtle, which we define as crypto-paternalism.

Keywords

clinical paternalism / crypto-paternalism / clinical communication / K. Jaspers / clinical ethics

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RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Mihalko N.A.