AbstractThe ends of medicine are sometimes construed simply as promotion of health, treatment and prevention of disease, and alleviation of pain. Practitioners might agree that this simple formulation captures much of what medical practice is about. But while the ends of medicine may seem simple or even obvious, the essays in this issue demonstrate the wide variety of philosophical questions and issues associated with the ends of medicine. They raise questions about how to characterize terms like “health” and “disease”; whether medicine’s goals should be extended to include enhancement beyond normal human function; and whether the ends of medicine are binding on those involved in health care outside of professional medicine, such as pharmaceutical companies. They also give philosophical attention to patient experiences, and so raise questions about whether current practices achieve the ends of medicine from the perspective of the patient. Together these essays demonstrate the important role played by a conception of medicine’s ends in a wide variety of issues and problems in the philosophy and ethics of medicine.

摘要医学的目的有时被简单地理解为促进健康，治疗和预防疾病以及减轻疼痛。从业人员可能会同意，这种简单的配方可以捕获医学实践的大部分内容。但是，尽管医学的目的看起来很简单甚至显而易见，但本期的论文却展示了各种各样的哲学问题以及与医学目的有关的问题。他们提出了有关如何表征“健康”和“疾病”等术语的问题；医学的目标是否应该扩展到包括超出人类正常功能的范围；药物的目的是否对除专业药物（例如制药公司）以外的医疗保健人员具有约束力。他们也从哲学上关注患者的经历，因此从患者的角度提出了有关当前实践是否达到医学目的的疑问。这些论文共同证明了医学目的概念在医学哲学和伦理学中的诸多问题中所起的重要作用。