A Philosophical Death
It is sometimes forgotten that one of the most important goals of medicine is to help people achieve a good death. It is here that medicine and philosophy intersect. After all, what is philosophy if not the search for how to live a good life and how to face death? Perhaps it should come as no surprise that among the great philosophers there have been medical doctors such as Avicenna and John Locke.
Like other departments of philosophy, medicine began with an age of wonder. The accidents of disease and the features of death aroused surprise and stimulated interest, and a beginning was made when man first asked in astonishment. Why should these things be?
Osler. The Evolution of Internal Medicine. 1907
When pondering death I sometimes wonder how the great philosophers faced death, and what we the living might learn from them…
We need wonder no more.
Listen to ‘From Cow Dung to Poison: A History of Philosopher’s Deaths’, an excerpt of a longer talk by Simon Critchley titled ‘To Philosophize is to Learn How to Die‘
Tell them I had a wonderful life.
– the last words of the perennially troubled Ludwig Wittengenstein
Don’t eat that…
– the last words Denis Diderot’s wife spoke to him before he died while eating an apricot.
I also recommend reading Richard Smith’s BMJ blog post: Dead Philosophers make you laugh and Simon Critchley’s top 10 philosophers’ deaths
Chris is an Intensivist and ECMO specialist at The Alfred ICU, where he is Deputy Director (Education). He is a Clinical Adjunct Associate Professor at Monash University, the Lead for the Clinician Educator Incubator programme, and a CICM First Part Examiner.
He is an internationally recognised Clinician Educator with a passion for helping clinicians learn and for improving the clinical performance of individuals and collectives. He was one of the founders of the FOAM movement (Free Open-Access Medical education) has been recognised for his contributions to education with awards from ANZICS, ANZAHPE, and ACEM.
His one great achievement is being the father of three amazing children.
On Bluesky, he is @precordialthump.bsky.social and on the site that Elon has screwed up, he is @precordialthump.
| INTENSIVE | RAGE | Resuscitology | SMACC