Can American medicine responsibly integrate patients religious beliefs into their end-of-life care? What is the clinical ethics consultants role in this process? In this dissertation, I attempt to answer these questions by investigating the religious, moral, and epistemic values that influence both 1) the commitments of the clinician and 2) the beliefs of the person hoping for a miracle (the invocator). My investigation identifies and explores a fundamental tension between the invocators religious imagination and the healthcare workers clinical imagination. To help alleviate this tension, the clinical ethics consultant should begin by identifying the different ways in which miracle-invocators employ miracle-language. I argue that miracle-language functions in three distinct (yet overlapping) ways: a political attempt to wrest decision-making authority away from the medical team, a doxological statement of faith in Providence, or an existential expression of inquiry into relationships between self, God, and world. By expressing empathy and openly exploring the moral values that undergird the invocators hope for a miracle, the clinical ethics consultant can help medicine recognize the interdependence between overall well-being and religious commitment.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-11232014-105409 |
| Date | 03 December 2014 |
| Creators | BIBLER, TREVOR MARK |
| Contributors | LARRY CHURCHILL, VICTOR ANDERSON, KEITH MEADOR, ELIZABETH HEITMAN |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-11232014-105409/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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