Doctors and Rules: A Sociology of Professional Values

by Jacob,Joseph M.

• ISBN13: 9780765804778
• ISBN10: 0765804778
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1999-02-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Doctors & Rules is a unique & immensely scholarly book. It draws on material which has informed our civilization, including many of the social sciences-history, sociology, & psychology, as well as law. The author accesses the current importance of the Hippocratic tradition within medicine, & puts forward various models of its practice. He seeks to expose the often inarticulated foundation of contemporary debates about the law, medicine, & health, & to question some common assumptions of the functions & structures of social & legal order. The book challenges the idea that legal rules should be respected merely because they exist & because they play a part in centralizing the organization of society. It rejects the notion that the courts always, or even often, offer useful mechanisms for defining & settling disputes. On the contrary, the author sees in their formalism many things which hinder the common cause of humanity. Only a skeptic trained in law but also deeply concerned by our fate & circumstances could have produced it. It also contributes both to the sociology of law & the sociology of medicine. Out of a reassertion of old ways, this book presents a new blueprint for future professional conduct. It is rich in questions & ideas for researchers, teachers, & professionals in the fields of law, medical sociology, & medicine & generally for those concerned with the place of professional conduct.

Author Biography

Joseph M. Jacob is professor of law at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Transaction Edition
Foreword
Preface
An introduction	p. 1
Medical practice	p. 28
Theories of medicine	p. 46
The profession of medicine: Some more history	p. 88
Professionalism	p. 109
Administration and medicine	p. 143
Conclusion	p. 173
The Hippocratic Oath	p. 192
Afterword to the Transaction Edition	p. 193
Notes	p. 243
Bibliography	p. 267
Index	p. 289
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.