Sport and Society
July 2006
Banner photo: Image Source/Getty Images
Medicine and the Future of Humankind
Dr. Felix Unger lectures on medical ethics
[©Seikyo Shimbun]
While advances in medicine have benefited humanity by extending our average lifespan, they have also given rise to complex ethical questions around, for example, genetic screening of fetuses, gender selection and euthanasia. These were some of the issues discussed by renowned cardiologist Felix Unger, president of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, in a lecture at an Institute of Oriental Philosophy (IOP) symposium in Tokyo on March 23. The theme of the lecture, "Medicine and the Future of Humankind," is also the topic of a serialized dialogue between Dr. Unger and SGI President and IOP founder Daisaku Ikeda currently appearing in the IOP journal.
While describing some of the dynamic advances in the medical field, Dr. Unger also expressed alarm at prevailing attitudes that underlie technological advances in medicine, in which patients have been dehumanized as mere objects of medical treatment. He emphasized the importance of holistic care of patients as human beings with souls and emotions, and strongly affirmed that medicine must serve people and not the other way around.
