Rethinking the Hippocratic Oath (IN: Last Rights? Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Debated, edited by M M Uhlmann)

This chapter discusses how the credibility & moral authority of the Hippocratic Oath have become the subject of critical challenge due to emerging societal & scientific forces. The author reviews the arguments posed by critics & defenders of the Hippocratic Oath, & presents what he believes are the primary options of response to this debate: restoration of the oath without change; restoration with minor, non-substantive changes, or with substantial changes; replacement by a thoroughly modern version; or abandonment of all oaths.