Paternalism-moral duties of physicians in the ancient medical ethics

The study covers the topic of paternalism. Paternalism as a tendency in medical ethics can not be understood as a situation - it is a phenomenon. Within the whole tradition of paternalism, the situation of the sick person was similar to that of the child or even a slave - to be sick meant to be someone who is relieved of responsibility and moral capabilities. The basic principle of relation between doctor and patient was based on the belief that sick people are deprived of autonomy, and therefore unable to make moral decisions. For patients there was only one moral duty: the absolute subordination to the physician. But the Hippocratic Oath has become an example of medical paternalism. The doctor was a person who could influence the moral life of the sick. There was a commitment between the sick and the doctor.