Abstract
I thank my generous and perceptive respondents, [R1] and [R2], who have
treated the vague and suggestive components of my paper with utmost charity.
The insightful commentary they have supplied has forced me to push my ideas
deeper and make them clearer, but it has not caused me to abandon any part of
my original argument, or of the view of medicine that I arrive at.
The view I reject is the Curative Thesis, that the ability to cure is essential to
medicine. This has the consequence that the distinctive medical competence, or...