Richard Selzer on Death, Resurrection, and Compassion

Voices from the Silent World of Doctor and Patient

“…the location of the soul, I would examine that person for a wound because the soul would most likely be there." 6 In my experience as a burn surgeon, an "I-Thou" 7 encounter of the type we are discussing is most likely to occur with a patient when he or she has been rendered vulnerable by the largest and most traumatic wound a patient can suffer: a serious burn wound. It is in "heart-to-heart" dialogue with a wounded, vulnerable but trusting patient that both physician and patient are most likely to achieve the Socratic goal of becoming morally transparent to themselves and one another, i.e., able to "reveal their souls" and thereby discover what they "really believe, intend, regard, and desire."…”