totality power point

8/13/2019 Totality Power Point

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Villanueva, Jenness Jeanne J.BSN 136

Principle of Totality
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An individual has the right to cut off, mutilate or remove any

defective or worn out non functioning part of his body; to

dispose of his organs or to destroy their capacity to function

"Only insofar as the general well-being of the whole body

requires it."

The whole is greater than any of its parts. We have a duty to

preserve the integrity of our bodies.

Hence, one may conclude that mutilation is licit according to

the Principle of Totality when it is necessary for the good of the

entire body.

The Concept of Principle of Totality


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1. A diseased part is harmful to the whole body. The Principle of

Totality unanimously agrees upon a legitimate sacrifice of a part

for the good of the whole.

2. Another question pertains to "the predicament of a person who

was ordered by a tyrant to cut off his own hand." The Principle of

Totality hold that the "self-inflicted mutilation was licit" when

"the sacrifice of the part was" to safeguard the whole.

3. The Principle of Totality justified "the subordination of the

part to the whole."

The Concept of Principle of Totality
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Philosophical and Theological Foundations of the


The roots of the principle of totality are spread through the

writings of Aristotle and Aquinas.

St. Bonaventure and the Scholastic moral theologians also

expressed the idea of the principle of totality.


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Philosophical and TheologicalFoundations of the Principle of Totality

This principle has been used for many centuries as ajustification for mutilation. Concerning the official teaching on

the principle of totality, we find application of the principlevery briefly in Casti Connubii (no. 23) by Pius XI and, in awider perspective in the writings of Pius XII. Althoughmoralists had incorporated the teachings of Aquinas on thesubordination of the part to the whole, Pius XII made manyofficial statements regarding the medico-moral application ofthe principle. He first named it as the principle of totality (13thSeptember 1952, in his allocution to the Italian Society ofHistopathologists).


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Examples in Clinical Setting

Suppose a man's foot is gangrenous should he consent to an

amputation?

- Since the amputation will save the patient's life and he can

still walk through the aid of crutches or artificial limbs, he can

consent to an operation. The burse can help the patientunderstand this.

Another case is "the necessity to amputate an extremity." The

example is that "the foot of a person is caught in the railroad track asthe train rapidly approaches."

- The Principle of Totality justified "the subordination of the

part to the whole."
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Examples in Clinical Setting

Sex change operation.

- Concerning penal amputation, the Principle of Totality never

justifies mutilation against innocent persons. The Principle of

Totality observes that individual life is greater than "any

component good of that life" and hence the former should notbe subordinated to the latter. So only those who are entrusted

with the good of the community can deprive the individual of

his life.


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Villanueva, Jenness Jeanne J.BSN 136
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totality power point

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