"Western civilization is currently facing a crisis that primarily affects the human being, even before economy or culture."

G Ital Nefrol. 2014 Jan-Feb;31(1). pii: gin/31.1.12.

[Healing with love. Ideas for an ethic of communication in the relationship between doctor and patient].

[Article in Italian]

Chiarulli R.

Abstract

In the last few years we have witnessed an intense debate, in which different opinions coming from very different cultures agreed that our Western civilization is currently facing a crisis that primarily affects the human being, even before economy or culture. Everywhere we see a rising demand for ethical values and responsibility, able to embrace the whole human being. Medicine is obviously in the forefront in facing the challenges of our time because of its intrinsically moral dimension. The purpose of this essay is to entrust some thoughts about health care ethics and communication to the cinematic storytelling (The Motorcycle Diaries movie screenplay) and to the narrative (the plot of The Story of Grail, written by the medieval poet Chrtien de Troyes). The goal is to contribute to a new definition of terms in which the deepest dimension of the human being is considered, thus overcoming the gap between "scientific culture" and "humanities."