Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T17:05:01.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Wilder Penfield - Bioethicist

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2014

Cara L. Sedney  and
Mark Bernstein
Cara L. Sedney*
Affiliation:
From the Department of Neurosurgery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
Mark Bernstein
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
*
West Virginia University Department of Neurosurgery, HSC PO Box 9183, Morgantown, West Virginia, 26506, USA. Email: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Bioethics is a new discipline which developed as modern medical and scientific breakthroughs surpassed the ability of traditional medical ethics to contend with unique ethical dilemmas. It evolved into an interdisciplinary discourse regarding the ethical and societal implications of medicine and the biomedical sciences. Wilder Penfield (1891–1976), celebrated neurosurgeon and neuroscientist, is rarely thought of as a “bioethicist,” and his mention in texts on the history of bioethics is little more than a footnote. However, he appears to have contributed to the field of bioethics in a number of ways: through his solutions to the ethical problems posed by the unique form of surgery he developed; through his recognition of the limitations of traditional medical ethics; through his involvement of the public and other disciplines in ethical discussions; and through the impact that his work still has today in the area of bioethics termed “neuroethics.”

Type
Historical Review
Information
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , March 2014 , pp. 177 - 181
Copyright
Copyright © The Canadian Journal of Neurological 2014

References

1.Jonsen, AR.The birth of bioethics. New York: Oxford; 1998.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Penfield, W.The torch. Boston: Little, Brown; 1960.Google Scholar
3.Jonsen, AR.A short history of medical ethics. New York: Oxford; 2000.Google Scholar
4.Kao, AC, Parsi, KP.Content analyses of oaths administered at U.S. medical schools in 2000. Acad Med. 2004;79(9):882–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Pinkus, RL.Politics, paternalism, and the rise of the neurosurgeon: the evolution of moral reasoning. Med Humanit Rev. 1996;10(2):20–44.Google Scholar
6.Lewis, J.Something hidden: A biography of Wilder Penfield. Garden City: Doubleday; 1981s.Google Scholar
7.Rothman, DJ.Strangers at the bedside. 2nd ed. New Brunswick: Aldine; 2009.Google Scholar
8.Xia, C.Understanding the human brain: a lifetime of dedicated pursuit. McGill J Med.2006;9(2):165–72.Google Scholar
9.Fins, JJ.Surgical innovation and ethical dilemmas: Precautions and Proximity. Cleve Clin J Med. 2008;75 Suppl 6:S7–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Shephard, DA.The vision of Wilder Penfield. Can Med Assoc J. 1977;116(12):1335–6.Google ScholarPubMed
11.Penfield, W.The mystery of the mind. Princeton: Princeton; 1975.Google Scholar
12.Hurst, SA.Standing on more than one leg: interdisciplinarity’s balancing acts. Am J Bioeth. 2008;8(1):50–1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Fins, JJ.Humanities are the hormones: Osler, Penfield, and “neuroethics” revisited. Am J Bioeth. 2008;8(1):W5–8.Google Scholar
14.Penfield, W.The second career. Boston: Little, Brown; 1963.Google Scholar
15.Proceedings: Dartmouth convocation on great issues of conscience in modern medicine. The Dartmouth convocation in Hanover. Sept 8–10, 1960. Available from: http://dartmed.dartmouth.edu/spring10/pdf/editors_note_we/program.pdfGoogle Scholar
16.Veatch, RM.Who should control the scope and nature of medical ethics? In: Backer, RB, Caplan, AL, Emanuel, LL, Lantham, SR, editors. The American medical ethics revolution. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins; 1999.Google Scholar
17.Parsi, KP, Geraughty, KE.The bioethicist as public intellectual. Am J Bioeth. 2004;4(1):W17–23.Google Scholar
18.Starr, P.The social transformation of American medicine. New York: Basic; 1982.Google Scholar
19.Fins, JJ.A leg to stand on: Sir William Osler and Wilder Penfield’s “neuroethics.” Am J Bioeth. 2008;8(1):37–46.Google Scholar
20.Mendelsohn, D, Lipsman, N, Bernstein, M.Neurosurgeons’ perspectives on psychosurgery and neuroenhancement: a qualitative study at one center. J Neurosurg. 2010;113:1212–8.Google Scholar
21.Lipsman, N, Zener, R, Bernstein, M.Personal identity, enhancement and neurosurgery: a qualitative study in applied neuroethics. Bioethics. 2009;23:375–83.Google Scholar
22.Levine, C.Analyzing Pandora’s box. In: Eckenwiler, LA, Cohn, FG, editors. The ethics of bioethics. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins; 2007.Google Scholar
23.Fins, JJ, Rezai, AR, Greenberg, BD.Psychosurgery: avoiding an ethical redux while advancing a therapeutic future. Neurosurgery. 2006;59(4):710–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed