Magnanimity in Medicine: The Role of an Ancient Virtue in Health Care

This article explores the role in modern medicine for magnanimity, an ancient virtue defined as believing oneself worthy of great things, while being worthy of them. Through analysis of a clinical case involving a seven-month-old infant with congenital heart disease, the authors discuss how hierarchical dynamics in medicine can compromise ethical decision-making and patient care. The case illustrates how some health-care professionals may fail to act in patients' best interests because of an internalized false perception of lower status or authority, a perception that typically emerges in response to domination by others with perceived higher status. The history and concept of magnanimity provides a lens through which to understand what goes wrong in the case and why. The authors suggest how cultivating magnanimity can help health-care professionals meet the ethical challenges of status and hierarchy in medicine more broadly.