Hippocratic Oaths: Medicine and its Discontents

By Raymond Tallis

Poet, philosopher, novelist and former physician, Raymond Tallis is one of the world's foremost scientific philosophers. In this book, he brings together his diverse intellectual interests to address profoundly important questions about our well being. Hippocratic Oaths blends philosophy with public opinion, polemic and personal experience to bridge the disjunction between the health care we believe we are entitled to expect, and the difficult realities of what is possible.

In a series of fiercely stimulating and impassioned arguments, Tallis looks at the truth behind public health scares; why we continue to incorrectly treat our bodies as if they were machines, separate from ourselves; and why the popularity of alternative therapies is bad for doctors and patients alike.

Hippocratic Oaths is the summation of a lifetime's thought and medical practice, by one of the most singular stars in the British scientific firmament. It will, quite simply, change forever the way you think about yourself, and your health.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Atlantic Books
• Release date: Jan 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781782396512

Raymond Tallis

Raymond Tallis trained in medicine at Oxford University and at St Thomas’ Hospital London before becoming Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Manchester. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences for his research in clinical neuroscience and he has played a key role in developing guidelines for the care of stroke patients in the UK. From 2011–14 he was Chair of Healthcare Professionals for Assisted Dying. He retired from medicine in 2006 to become a full-time writer. His books have ranged across many subjects – from philosophical anthropology to literary and cultural criticism – but all are characterised by a fascination for the infinite complexity of human lives and the human condition. The Economist’s Intelligent Life magazine lists him as one of the world’s leading polymaths.