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The tribunal of modern life: the case of UZ B russels in the light of O do M arquard's discussion on autonomy and theodicy
Author(s) -
Devisch Ignaas
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1111/jep.12042
Subject(s) - tribunal , theodicy , autonomy , political science , philosophy , law , medicine , epistemology
Recently, a court in B elgium awarded a sum of 400 000 euros to the parents of a child with disability who at that point had already died of S anfilippo syndrome. Their charge was not that the baby was born with disability, but that the child was born. The charge was brought in the child's name, and so effectively, the child had sued against its own birth. This so‐called ‘unique case’ is analyzed with the work of the G erman philosopher O do M arquard. M arquard's work on theodicy, and the question of suffering and evil, is very useful to explain why this case is the current apotheosis of a logic present in modernity: existence as a tribunal. This paper explains why M arquard's work sheds an interesting light on this case for today's medicine.