Abstract

“First, do no harm” has been cited so often as the fundamental principle of medical ethics that the entailed harm appears self-evident: intentional or unintentional physical harm. This article makes a case for a different kind of harm that physicians can commit against patients: metaphysically harming them by reducing them to mere objects to be fixed or manipulated, instead of persons to be known. Drawing on the history of medicine, theological reflection, and clinical practice, the author compares two ways of regarding the patient: (1) the medical dissective gaze, which knows the patient by mentally cutting her up and reducing her into parts; and (2) iconic perception, which encounters the patient as a living icon. While the medical dissective gaze describes an important dimension to scientific medicine, treating a patient purely as a medical object defaces her human personhood. To address and prevent these kinds of harms, the author proposes that regarding the patient with iconic perception fosters wonder and reaffirms the patient’s humanity.