Philosophy and Medicine

3 May 2016 - 4 May 2016 - 09:00-17:30

Self-knowledge has always played a role in health care since a person needs to be able to accurately assess her body or behaviour in order to determine whether to seek medical help. But more recently it has come to play a larger role, as health care has moved from a more paternalistic model to one where the patient is expected to take charge of her health; as we realized that early detection, and hence self-examination, can play a crucial role in outcomes; as medical science improves and makes more terminal illnesses into chronic conditions requiring self-management; as genetic testing makes it possible to have more information about our futures; and with the advent of personal electronic devices that make it easy for a person to gather accurate real-time information about her body.

It can be hard to get good information about oneself, and even harder to know what to do it. Sometimes self-knowledge is needed for a good outcome, but sometimes it is useless, or worse. Breast self-examination can lead to over-treatment, learning that one has a predisposing gene can create a detrimental illusion of knowing more about the future than one does, and data about one’s vital signs can be meaningless if taken out of a context of interpretation. We look at how these and other issues play out in a variety of medical contexts.

In conjunction with the Symposium, the Palgrave Communications journal will publish a special issue based on the same topic. More details and the Call for Papers can be found at: http://philosophyandmedicine.org/call-for-papers-self-knowledge//

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Programme

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3 May – Greenwood Lecture Theatre

Morning: 9:00-12:30
 

Welcome: Stuart Carney, Dean of the GKT School of Medical Education
 
Introduction: Sherri Roush, Peter Sowerby Chair in Philosophy and Medicine (Video)
 

Chair: Gareth Owen, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King’s College London

Tony David, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King’s College London

Nick Shea, Department of Philosophy, King’s College London

Fiona Johnson, University College London

Matthew Hotopf, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King’s College London

 

Afternoon: 2:30-5:30 – followed by reception
 

Chair: Sherri Roush, King’s College London

Fiona Cowdell and Judith Dyson, University of Hull

Quassim Cassam, Department of Philosophy, University of Warwick

Paul Norman, University of Sheffield

 
Reception: 5:30
 
 
 

4 May 2016 – Harris Lecture Theatre, Hodgkin Building

Morning: 9:00 – 12:00
 

Introduction: Simon Howell, Dean of Biomedical Sciences
 

Chair: Abdi Sanati, Consultant Inpatient Psychiatrist, North East London NHS Foundation Trust

Christine Patch, Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospitals

Sherri Roush, Department of Philosophy, King’s College London

Sacha Golob, Department of Philosophy, King’s College London

 

Afternoon: 2:00-5:00
 

Chair: Sacha Golob, Department of Philosophy, KCL

Veronika Williams, University of Oxford

Havi Carel, University of Bristol

Tim Holt, University of Oxford

 

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