ILLNESS, VULNERABILITY AND ALIENATION: ANALYSIS OF THE DOCTOR-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP FROM A SARTREAN ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This work aims to present a contribution to phenomenological studies on vulnerability from a particular philosophical perspective, the phenomenological-existentialist perspective of Jean-Paul Sartre. In this case, it is proposed to reflect on the experience of illness as it reveals the vulnerable dimension of human existence, and the way in which this experience is aggravated by the appearance of the objectifying gaze of the Other. A particular mode of intersubjective relationship is privileged, the doctor-patient relationship. In this sense, it is proposed that Sartrean philosophy presents relevant conceptual elements to describe the relationship between sick people and those who diagnose, treat and care for them, founding a moral perspective from an ethics of responsibility. This analysis will make it possible to put the Sartrean approach in dialogue with bioethics.