A Rejoinder

Abstract

I certainly understand Veatch’s dismay over having to deal with a “preliminary effort” he wrote more than ten years ago. My empathy for such was part of my reluctance to criticize it in the first place. I trust it is clear that my critique was of the particular article only and not of Robert Veatch or of any of his other work. And since the particular article in question has apparently become something of a classic, the editor deemed it an appropriate launch pad for further discussion of the doctor-patient relationship. For what it is worth, it might be noted that my criticism does not really use its ten year vantage point. I would have leveled the very same criticisms had I written my reply ten years ago, for they have to do with logical and theoretical matters rather than with the social or historical context.