Exploring the Practice of Palliative Medicine Through Lens of Body Philosophy

Palliative medicine is a newly emerging branch of clinical medicine,with palliative care forming the core of its clinical practice.It is experiencing dynamic progress in China.This paper analyzes the similarities and differences among four definitions of palliative care to reveal the theoretical breakthroughs emerging from its localization process.From the perspective of body philosophy,it elucidates the shift in clinical reasoning from symptom management to holistic care.Palliative care,grounded in the integrity of the human body,implements the holistic care that approaches patients' pain,suffering,social relationships,and meaning making as an integrated system.This paper argues that the body possesses dual ontological status as both a site of medical intervention and an existential medium of intersubjectivity.And the body philosophy provides one of the philosophical foundations for the practice and disciplinary development of palliative medicine.