Overview

Dagmar Wujastyk explores the moral discourses on the practice of medicine in the foundational texts of Ayurveda. The classical ayurvedic treatises were composed in Sanskrit between the first and the fifth centuries CE, and the later works, dating into the sixteenth century CE, were still considered strongly authoritative. As Wujastyk shows, these works testify to an elaborate system of medical ethics and etiquette. Physicians looked to the ayurvedic treatises for a guide to professional conduct. Ayurvedic discourses on good medical practice depict the physician as highly-educated, skilled, moral, and well-mannered. The rules of conduct positioned physicians within mainstream society's and characterized medical practice as a trustworthy and socially acceptable profession. At the same time, professional success was largely based on a particular physician's ability to cure his patients. This resulted in tension, as some treatments and medications were considered socially or religiously unacceptable. Doctors needed to treat their patients successfully while ostensibly following the rules of acceptable behavior. Wujastyk offers insight into the many unorthodox methods of avoiding conflict while ensuring patient compliance shown in the ayurvedic treatises, giving a disarmingly candid perspective on the realities of medical practice and its crucial role in a profoundly well-mannered society.

Full Product Details

Author:   Dagmar Wujastyk (PhD in Indology 2010, PhD in Indology 2010, Bonn University, Vienna, Austria)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 23.10cm
Weight:   0.386kg
ISBN:  

9780199859962

ISBN 10:   0199859965
Pages:   264
Publication Date:   16 August 2012
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

Abbreviations ; Acknowledgements ; Introduction ; 1 The pillars of treatment ; 2 On becoming a physician ; 3 On continued learning and interaction with peers ; 4 To care or not to care ; 5 The rewards of medical practice ; 6 Veracity in the doctor-patient relationship ; 7 Ethical elisions ; 8 Concluding reflections ; Appendices ; A Sanskrit text passages: The pillars of treatment ; B Sanskrit text passages: On becoming a physician ; C Sanskrit text passages: On continued learning and interaction with peers ; D Sanskrit text passages: To care or not to care ; E Sanskrit text passages: The rewards of medical practice ; F Sanskrit text passages: Veracity in the doctor-patient relationship ; Notes ; Bibliography

Reviews

<br> Dagmar Wujastyk's thorough study of medical ethics in classical Ayurvedic texts adds substantially to our knowledge of Ayurveda as a medical system. Ethics here includes the moral attributes required of a physician, personal presentation, medical education, the doctor-patient relationship, medical deception, and much more. In this first rate study, Wujastyk avoids the danger of evaluating Ayurveda from the standpoint of Western medicine. This is required reading for everyone with an interest in Indian medicine or cross-cultural medical history. --Frederick M. Smith, Professor of Sanskrit and Classical Indian Religions, University of Iowa<p><br>

Dagmar Wujastyk's thorough study of medical ethics in classical Ayurvedic texts adds substantially to our knowledge of Ayurveda as a medical system. Ethics here includes the moral attributes required of a physician, personal presentation, medical education, the doctor-patient relationship, medical deception, and much more. In this first rate study, Wujastyk avoids the danger of evaluating Ayurveda from the standpoint of Western medicine. This is required reading for everyone with an interest in Indian medicine or cross-cultural medical history. * Frederick M. Smith, Professor of Sanskrit and Classical Indian Religions, University of Iowa *

Dagmar Wujastyk's thorough study of medical ethics in classical Ayurvedic texts adds substantially to our knowledge of Ayurveda as a medical system. Ethics here includes the moral attributes required of a physician, personal presentation, medical education, the doctor-patient relationship, medical deception, and much more. In this first rate study, Wujastyk avoids the danger of evaluating Ayurveda from the standpoint of Western medicine. This is required reading for everyone with an interest in Indian medicine or cross-cultural medical history. --Frederick M. Smith, Professor of Sanskrit and Classical Indian Religions, University of Iowa

Author Information

PhD in Indology 2010, Bonn University

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