WAS TUT GUT? - Universiteit Twente

The criterion would be the conception of health as a means to achieve “Joy of
Living” and not as a goal in itself. Health is considered an extremely important
element, as is peace of mind. This peace of mind requires a certain attitude to life, a
“savoir-vivre” (art of living), whose characteristics are: self - restraint, being in
control of one’s life, a knowledgeable way of handling matters of dying and death
and the awareness of the importance of balance for all aspects of life. Thus the
principles are sketched of an epicurean health care, which aims at joy of living as the
ultimate objective of human actions in general and medicine in particular. For a long
time the search for an image of a gratifying life in a post - modern society,
characterized by individualization and a great variety of life patterns, which could be
shared by many, was considered peculiar.
This book argues in favour of a change of mind in order to make the millennia
- old concept of the good life, convincing because of its obvious and integral appeal,
fit for the present. Point of departure of the philosophical considerations is (beside
other developments with similar effects) a specific technological innovation of which
expectations are presently running high worldwide: the protein chip. With the help of
this chip we shall soon be able to prepare highly differentiated protein profiles, which
will enable us to form an opinion about a great variety of bodily processes. As
protein analyses are among the most common analyses made in laboratories, it is
obvious that, if the chip would be introduced in the daily medical routine (and this is
what it makes special) extensive and varied information would become available, not
only regarding purely medical aspects, but also about the patient’s mode of life in
general. This new technological development has actualized the already mentioned
general processes in modern medical technology and the urge to regulate them is
being felt.
The author reflects upon the presuppositions for realizing “Joy of Living” with
regard to this specific product and develops options for its application. In this respect
the technological instrumentarium mentioned serves as a tool to determine the
validity of ethical principles. It is, however, also an innovation of great actuality,
which could have highly interesting and far-reaching ethical consequences.
The book aims to contribute to a “wise technology”, beneficial to man and
instrumental in attaining the objective of a good life. A use of technology based on
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