Browsing by Author "Van Niekerk, Marilu"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Die kompleksiteit van menswees in geneeskunde : 'n krities-filosofiese ondersoek
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-04) Van Niekerk, Marilu; Van Niekerk, Anton A.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Philosophy.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The dehumanising of human beings which often underpins western medicine lead to this study. Moreover a predominant mechanistic and reductionist view of a human being necessitated a philosophical investigation to revisit the stance. It is argued that western medicine is based upon uncritical assumptions about humans as a result of the dualism and mechanistic views of Descartes. The philosophy of Merleau-Ponty transcended dualism by his emphasis on the bodylines of a human being situated in his life world. Complexity thinking concurs with the above-mentioned view, however, takes the argument further by focusing on the importance of continuous interactions and relations between the whole and the parts. Interdependent aspects of our being in the world constitute our humanness, such as our human relations between family members, friends, that which we experience, ponder, feel, and believe. Our unique experience of disease often goes hand in hand with a deep-seated sub-conscious longing for meaning. According to complexity theory being ill is not a static condition, but rather an imbalance as a result of various dynamic interactions between many spheres of human life. Multiple causality due to various dynamic interactions and self-organisation should replace simplistic views of mechanical cause and effect in this regard. Medical training models should not employ reductionism as if humans are machines comprising of separate body parts. An organic view of the uniqueness of each evolving human being should replace obsolete reductionist and mechanistic views of healing.The essence of being human is embedded in a tapestry of dynamic relations.