Abstract
The question of the extent of the interconnection, if any, between religion and the Western culture of biomedicine has received considerable scholarly attention over the past several decades. However, any phenomenological analysis that begins by positing an essence of religion is, if not doomed, deeply flawed from the outset. This paper employs William Alston’s non-essentialist notion of ‘religion-making characteristics’ to assess the extent of the interconnection. The conclusion is that the culture of biomedicine does share many, if not all of these characteristics, and that both religion and medicine overlap in significant ways on, to use Erwin Goodenough’s metaphor, the painted curtain that separates man from the tremendum.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Obviously, the greater the quality and quantity of these characteristics that can be accurately assigned to modern medicine, the deeper the interconnectedness between modern medicine and religion.
I combine Alston’s characteristics 7, 8, and 9 because I tend to think that the mere existence of an organizing world view is simply too general to supply a truly religion-making characteristic; it could just as easily constitute a custom-making characteristic, a myth-making characteristic, an occupation-making characteristic, etc. However, when one organizes the totality of one’s life around that weltanschaaung, the notion that such an event is religious in nature seems more to characterize religious activity.
References
Alston W. P. (1967) Religion. In: Edwards P. (ed) The Encyclopedia of philosophy, Macmillan, New York, pp 140–145
Blumhagen, D. (1979). The doctor's white coat. Annals of Internal Medicine, 91(1): 111–116.
Foster D. W. (1982) Religion and medicine: The physician’s perspective. In: Marty M. E., Vaux K. L. (eds) Health/medicine and the faith traditions. Fortress Press, Philadelphia, pp 245–270
Garza, C. L. (2005, August 2). Using prenatal ultrasounds as keepsakes grows more popular – and controversial. Houston Chronicle, A1–A14
Goodenough E. R. (1972) Religion, as man’s adjustment to the tremendum. In: Capps W. H. (ed) Ways of understanding religion. Macmillan, New York, pp 45–48
Hick J. (2005) An interpretation of religion. Yale University Press, New Haven
McKinnon A. (2002) Sociological definitions, language games, and the ‘essence’ of religion. Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 15:61–83
Oath and Prayer of Maimonides. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2005, from http://www.library.dal.ca/kellogg/Bioethics/codes/maimonides.htm
Osler, W. (1985). Man’s redemption of man. In The collected essays of SirWilliam Osler, Vol. I (pp. 371–431). Birmingham: Classics of Medicine Library
Selzer R. (1974) Mortal lessons: Notes on the art of surgery. Simon and Schuster, New York
Vanderpool, H. Y., Levin, J. S. (1990). Religion and medicine: How are they related? Journal of Religion and Health, 29(1): 9–20
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Daniel S. Goldberg obtained his B.A. with Honors in Philosophy from Wesleyan University in 1999, his J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center in 2002, and is currently Research Professor at the Health Law and Policy Institute at the University of Houston Law Center. He is also a full-time Ph.D. student in the Institute for Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch. His primary areas of scholarly interest include clinical medical ethics, history of medicine, and gerontology, and he is particularly in studying pain management through the kaleidoscope of the medical humanities.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Goldberg, D.S. Religion, the Culture of Biomedicine, and the Tremendum: Towards a Non-Essentialist Analysis of Interconnection. J Relig Health 46, 99–108 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-006-9080-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-006-9080-3