Abstract

In this paper, I review Pellegrino’s Reader, The Philosophy of Medicine Reborn. Pellegrino has emphasized the humanities’ reflection on the ethics of medicine. He insists that medical ethics should be re-established as modern society changes. This paper, based on Pellegrino’s view, noted the problematic situation in literature and popular narrative texts. Indeed, I wanted to see what answer medical ethics could provide for us. Medical personnel had a philosophical dilemma or a conflict between reality and ethics. Pellegrino argues that medical personnel, above all, need to sympathize with the patient’s pain and respond to their needs through interaction with them. This may seem like a very legitimate declaration. But a physician in literary texts and popular narrative texts is often exposed to this ethical dilemma. Through Lee Cheongjun’s novel, we can reflect on how a medical personnel could lead a patient to a state of “goodness”. And through medical dramas, we can grasp what ethical behaviors the public demands from a medical personnel. Now that the world is suffering from COVID-19, medical workers are in a great trouble, but at the same time, they are respected by the public and are also enhancing their value as ethical beings. Now that medical care has become an everyday narrative, medical ethics is becoming a prerequisite for living. This paper attempted to recognize the importance of medical ethics and to review the ethical issues embodied in medical narratives.